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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (148442)	10/30/2010 9:10:30 AM
From: Sam	Respond to of 543549

I can't claim to understand a Bible Belt state like Louisiana. Maybe they have such low expectations for their politicians that Vitter is just business as usual. Despite heat over salacious scandals, David Vitter cruising toward reelection By Brett Michael Dykes – Fri Oct 29, 2:52 pm ET news.yahoo.com [EDIT: The videos referred to in this piece can be found at the link above, as can other links in the article.] A recent headline in the New Orleans Times-Picayune neatly sums up the frustrations of many on the left: "Democrats mystified by David Vitter's popularity 3 years after prostitute scandal." Yes, against seemingly all odds, the man who for years portrayed himself as a family-values conservative only to become embroiled in a prostitution scandal, and who recently was caught employing a staffer with an extensive criminal history, including violence against women, is enjoying a comfortable double-digit lead in the polls heading into Tuesday's primary, according to the most recent polls. So how's he doing it? Well, say what you want about David Vitter, the man's a skillful politician. He possesses an uncanny intuition for pushing the right voter buttons in his increasingly conservative state. He's also been blessed with astonishingly good luck — particularly when it comes to the scandal-ridden background of his would-be primary opponents. Nevertheless, Vitter's Democratic opponent, Rep. Charlie Melancon, continues to try to make a dent in the incumbent Republican's Teflon-like appeal. Melancon's campaign has relentlessly canvassed the state, while the candidate himself has blanketed the political press with countless interviews. And several week's ago, Melancon's campaign launched a website — SeriousSins.com, an homage of sorts to Vitter's oft-repeated admission that he's committed "serious sins" in his marriage — toting up Vitter's moral failings for what you'd think might be devastating effect (the Louisiana Democratic Party offered up their own similar site, ForgottenCrimes.com). But to judge by the polls, the Louisiana electorate — long inured to a high-rascality quotient among its elected officials — has not been whipped into a state of outrage over the prospect of another term for Vitter. In the waning days of the campaign, Melancon — a pro-gun-rights, anti-gay-marriage "Blue Dog" Democrat who might get more statewide traction than a more liberal candidate would — has ratcheted the attacks up a notch. Earlier this week, his campaign began running a statewide TV spot called "Faithful." In the closing seconds of the ad, the voiceover promises that, if elected, Melancon would be "faithful to Louisiana," at the precise moment that a clip of Melancon walking hand-in-hand with his wife appears on screen — a none-too-subtle reminder of Vitter's past indiscretions: And yesterday the Melancon camp began running a much more direct new ad titled "Sins." In this spot, the voiceover starts out: "Our tax dollars pay David Vitter's salary, and he used it for prostitutes. You're welcome, Senator." It concludes by saying, "The real sin, is that David Vitter is still a Senator." You can watch the ad below: Melancon continued to turn up the heat this week. In the final debate between the two Thursday night, Vitter complained that using clips of his children in attack ads was proof that Melancon doesn't respect "family values." Melancon shot back by saying, "David, you've never had family values. You demonstrated that to America quite keenly." Melancon then added -- after Vitter repeatedly refused to concede that he may have broken the law while in office: "You railed against Bill Clinton and the blue dress. You railed against Bob Livingston because you coveted his seat, when he had an indiscretion. And then you said, 'They sinned, they lied, and they should resign.' You sinned, you lied, you've broken the law, you've embarrassed the state." You can watch the heated exchange below: The latest barrage from Melancon seems unlikely, however, to shift the race in his favor. Election handicappers give him a mere 10 percent chance of victory on Election Day.