Recently in Louisiana Category

There's a Saturday election today in my home district -- Louisiana's 6th. Dems are very confident they can pick off another GOP-held seat, that formerly won by Richard Baker who abandoned the district to become a million dollar lobbyist.

Republicans are using this special election as a way of gaging how (if) they should use Obama as a negative against Democrats. I can tell you that the last 72 hours has seen virtual carpet-bombing of political ads from both candidates -- Democrat Don Cazayoux and Republican Woody JenKKKins. And, no, that wasn't a typo in JenKKKins' name -- he's widely recognized as a buddy of David Duke.

This is the third election to fill the seat. The first one was the (closed) primary in which Miss Julie and I worked for our friend Andy Kopplin. Then there was the run-off between Cazayoux and state representative Michael Jackson. And now the special election itself. I can tell you that we've voted for three different candidates to get to this point. And there is another set of elections come November. Louisiana loves them some elections!

Speaking of Rep. Jackson, there is some talk that he will urge his black constituency to stay home today and come out for him when (if) he runs as an independent in November. By running as an independent, he can avoid the Democratic primary and just show up on the ballot without the extra election. If they follow his lead, Cazayoux might very well lose today -- and the Democrats could lose a primo opportunity to flip the district.

Adding to the interest is the fact that if Cazayoux loses, the Clinton campaign will use this as proof that Obama can't help down-ticket candidates in the general election come November.

UPDATE: Cazayoux wins!

I recently found this video produced by the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau. It came with this message -- pass it along!

Hello all.

Hope all is well on your end. We're hoping to crack consciousness on YouTube as part of our ongoing efforts to promote the New Orleans renaissance. Tourism is fundamental to NOLA, encompassing pretty much everything we're about - from cultural preservation to necessary economics - responsible for about 35% of the city's operating budget and over 100,000 jobs. Tourism is at about 80% of pre-Katrina levels right now.

All is splendid right now with Festival Season in full swing, cool, breezy days, and azaleas, sweet olive, Japanese magnolia and jasmine painting the city with an explosion of color and scents. But summer's coming and things slow down a bit. We want to fully leverage the great spring activities to generate momentum through the year. Appreciate you forwarding this link along to one person. More is icing.

Don't forget to allow us to return the favor. We're good like that.

Thanks!

Pass it along! And gitcha' ass down ta New Orleans -- there's nothin like it, baby!

Andy Kopplin is running for the Dem nomination for Congress from my home district -- Louisiana's 6th. Maybe you've heard of it: Republican Richard Baker abandoned it to become a million dollar lobbyist.

Anyway, Andy is a friend of mine and when he asked me and Miss Julie to volunteer for his campaign, we jumped at the chance. But even if I didn't already know him, I would have been impressed by the things he's accomplished for Louisiana.

Kopplin was the first Executive Director of the Louisiana Recovery Administration. He built the coalition that doubled Louisiana's federal commitments for levees, housing and infrastructure (from $13.2 billion to $28.1 billion).

He was also head of Louisiana's Americorps Program. He led the way as groups of committed young people built houses, tutored children and helped the elderly.

And Kopplin, who served as the chief of staff to two Louisiana governors, was instrumental in the creation of the Louisiana community college system, the Louisiana Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS), and Louisiana's pre-school program.

Here's one of Andy's TV ads:

The primary is this Saturday, March 8. There are four other Dems running:

• State Rep. Don Cazayoux, a self-styled "John Breaux Democrat" who is pro-life and enjoys high ratings from the National Rifle Association. Cazayoux is widely seen as the frontrunner for the nomination.
• Jason DeCuir, who ran unsuccessfully for the State Senate in the last election.
• State Rep. Michael Jackson who (like Cazayoux) will be soon be term-limited out of the Louisiana legislature.
• Joe DeLatte, a construction worker.

Despite this being his first race for public office, Andy has already vaulted into the top-tier for fundraising among all Democrats: He has raised over $68 thousand on ActBlue.com to Cazayoux's $30 thousand, attracting far more donors as well. Andy also has Cazayoux beat in another important metric going into the last days of the campaign -- as of today, he has more cash on hand than Cazayoux. None of the other Democrats come close. Lastly, Kopplin's pace is picking up: he's raised over $35 thousand over the last week or so, to Cazayoux's $25 thousand. Not bad, considering that this is his very first race for elective office.

If necessary, there will be a runoff in April and the special election will be in May.

I know very few of you reading this will be voting in the primary on Saturday. But I hope that you'll help us send Andy to Congress by making a contribution via ActBlue.com.

And if you live in the district, please vote for Andy on March 8.

Andy Kopplin for Congress
Andy Kopplin TV
Andy Kopplin's ActBlue page

Down to New Orleans for the Rex Parade, then back to Baton Rouge to watch the Super Tuesday returns. If I was having more fun I'd have to be twins.

But wait -- there's more! Obama in Baton Rouge on Wednesday morning! What was it the guy said? "Let history blaze its trail!"

Gotta go.

Spanish Town is a residential district downtown in Baton Rouge. The parade winds through the narrow neighborhood streets and a good time was had by all. See if you can spot Miss Julie.

Mardi Gras is early this year. It'll be here February 5 -- brrr, it's going to be cold. Here's a video I shot from my first Mardi Gras in 2005.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

If you follow college football at all you know that LSU vs. Alabama is always a great game. This year is no exception -- not the least of which is due to the defection of head coach Nick Saban from the Tigers to the Crimson Tide (with a short stay in Miami). To say he's a controversial figure is putting it mildly.

So feelings are high in Baton Rouge, as these Halloween decorations from earlier in the week would indicate.

UPDATE: 'Bama fumbles late, LSU recovers, scores with a minute to go, and hangs on to win 41-34. You cannot be faint of heart watching this year's Tigers team.

Yep. It's a hurricane with winds at 80 mph as of 8am CDT. Those who know think it may end up being a Category 4. But a lot depends on whether it hits the Yucatan peninsula or veers and hits the Keys. Too early to tell.

I'll try to keep you posted.

(Click to see larger image)

School starts in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime Miss Julie and the boys are spending some time on the lake. And, on occasion, I emerge from the bunker to join them.

Is this the best, or what?

(cross posted on Daily Kos)

When most people talk about the destruction of New Orleans, they think of Hurricane Katrina.

But it wasn't the hurricane that did it: it was the failure of the levees. And what happened in New Orleans could happen anywhere. After all, the federal government and the US Army Corps of engineers designed and built the levees in over 100 locations around the country, including New Orleans.

This land is our land. Don't we all deserve levees that work?

Please visit www.levees.org and join us to make sure this doesn't happen to any of us ever again.