Mr. Jefferson, shunned by national Democratic Party figures and low on money because of his pending trial, was counting on — and appeared to be getting — strong support from local leaders. In 2006, he was handily re-elected though the bribery scandal had already been aired.Not only did Cao benefit by higher white turnout and lower black turnout, but the black population in this district seems to have slightly decreased since Katrina. What really hurt Jefferson is that this election wasn't settled on election day when the black turnout for Obama might have helped him get reelected. Just as with Saxby Chambliss, the Democrats weren't able to duplicate the level of black turnout necessary for victory when Barack Obama wasn't on the ticket.
This year, a number of the city’s top black pastors announced their support for him just days before the election.
But it was not enough. Mr. Cao, promising ethics and integrity, offered voters a break from the scandals associated with the incumbent and his siblings, several of whom have also been indicted.
Mr. Jefferson, 61, awaits trial on federal counts of soliciting bribes, money laundering and other offenses. Prosecutors contend that he used his Congressional office to broker deals in African nations, and say he received more than $500,000 in bribes.
Mr. Cao, 41 and known as Joseph, fled Vietnam at age 8 after the fall of Saigon. His father was a army officer who was later imprisoned for seven years by the Communist government. Mr. Cao, who has never held elective office, has been an advocate for the small but prominent Vietnamese community here and has a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University.
“Knocking Jefferson off is something you don’t want to bet on,” Elliott Stonecipher, a Louisiana political analyst, said Saturday night. “These elections continue to show us that there is a smaller, different and more progressive New Orleans that is emerging.”
It's also interesting that Mr. Cao, a man of a different background and history, was able to win in New Orleans. Like Bobby Jindal, he helps the Republicans to put a different face on their party and reach out to the growing Asian American community to demonstrate the appeal of conservative ideas.
I suspect that even the Democrats are none too upset to have Jefferson out of the House and to push that embarrassment aside.
7 comments:
Just as with Saxby Chambliss, the Democrats weren't able to duplicate the level of black turnout necessary for victory when Barack Obama wasn't on the ticket.
A more accurate reading of what happened in Georgia would be this: Georgia was a red state before the general election, a red state during the general election, and is a red state today.
Saxby Chambliss (the GOP draft-dodger who votes against decent benefits for veterans) got more votes than his Democratic opponent in the first election. There was a runoff election under Georgia's rules because Chambliss got less than a majority of the general election vote. (Chambliss got 49.8 percent. Martin took a little over 46 percent).
But GOP candidate Chambliss won the first election as well as the second. So Martin couldn't "duplicate the level of black turnout necessary for victory", when he did not accomplish it the first time round.
Georgia is one of the few "ignorance belt" states where the GOP still reigns.
Watching Liberals spin is really quite fun. ^_^
Georgia is one of the few "ignorance belt" states where the GOP still reigns.
...as compared to those Democrat dream lands of South Chicago, Washington DC, Detroit, East LA and New Orleans.
Looks like some voters in NO threw out the trash.
Wow! That Saxby Chambliss sounds almost as bad as somebody who would "loathe the military", huh, Bill?
For the record, Chambliss had legitimate student deferments and never received a draft notice while in college, like tens of thousands of young men his age. After college, he submitted to the draft and was classified 1Y, because of a knee disability. Strike one on the "draft dodger" charge.
Sen. Webb's "decent benefits for veterans" was attached to another bill, a common way of forcing the President to accept the whole package when all he wants is part(s). But it didn't work, and Webb's bill didn't get through, because Chambliss and enough other senators voted against it. Naturally, Democrats say he voted against "decent benefits for veterans." However, the GOP then offered its own "decent benefits for veterans" bill. Progressives/Liberals/Democrats (Bill), of course, don't think anything conservatives do is "decent." It's typical Washington trash talk. One party's filet is the other's Spam.
Strike two on the "decent benefits" charge.
Choke up on the bat and try another ad hominem swing, Bill.
From the New Orleans Times-Picayune
"--- Third time around ---
The dearth of voters showing up at the polls Saturday likely owed to lack of awareness of the election, Chervenak said.
With Louisiana holding closed party primaries for the first time in 30 years, the winner-takes-all general election became the third race of the season, rather than the second, as under the previous system. Complicating matters, Hurricane Gustav forced the first contest to be postponed a month, pushing the general election into December, sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Jefferson said during the general election campaign that he encountered many voters who mistakenly thought he had won on Nov. 4.
Cao benefited from the mix of disinterest and confusion, as well as from strong support in heavily white areas, where turnout dropped somewhat compared with last month but not as steeply as in majority black areas.
Given the demographic makeup of the district -- more than 60 percent of voters are black and two-thirds are registered Democrats -- some prognosticators already are forecasting Cao's demise if he runs for re-election in 2010.
"Cao is probably a one-term wonder," said Larry Sabato, director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Virginia."
I am happy for Mr. Cao and wish him luck. It will be interesting.
Interesting facts about Mr. Cao--
"Cao, a refugee from Vietnam, is the unlikeliest of political figures: slight, soft-spoken and self-effacing, a seemingly guileless figure, yet one with a sharp sense of humor and degrees in physics, philosophy and law and six years of study to be a Jesuit priest that suggest he is nobody's fool."
And with the census coming up, a possible Republican majority in the Louisiana legislature might see a change of the demographics of the current 2nd into more of an evenly divided electorate. Especially as the 1st and the 3rd are predominately white and could probably afford to give up a few white only precincts in exchange from a few that are predominately black.
But Cao will need to win at least one more election before such a scenario could play out.
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