Landrieu backs away from Obama
posted at 10:30 am on August 12, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Call it a recognition of political reality for a Louisiana Democrat in 2008. Mary Landrieu has an uphill battle to retain her seat, one of the few bright spots on the electoral landscape in the Senate this year for the GOP. Landrieu apparently doesn’t believe that Barack Obama helps her in that quest:
The Baton Rouge Advocate reports that Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., the only Senate Democrat in a competitive race this year, was listed as a co-host for a $100-per-person DC fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, until suddenly, she wasn’t.
The event, “Girls Night Out: Lipstick, Laughter and Libations,” (you can see the cached version which includes Landrieu’s name HERE) is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, August 18.
Landrieu’s campaign insisted that the listing was a “clerical mistake”. Really? Why wouldn’t Landrieu co-host a fundraiser for Obama in her home state? It seems a little odd that the Democrat running on the most prominent state race in a presidential election wouldn’t choose to get the high-profile press and opportunity for her own fundraising that a major event like this usually provides.
It appears that Landrieu considers Obama an albatross in her re-election bid. One wonders whether more Congressional Democrats in competitive races might not be reaching the same conclusion.
Blowback
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See ya! Wouldn’t wanna be ya!
Akzed on August 12, 2008 at 10:32 AM
The old “By the way, the South is a hotbed of racism” line. Stay out of my region, ABC.
emailnuevo on August 12, 2008 at 10:34 AM
whoa whoa whoa, you posted a picture of a white woman with Hussein, that’s a direct violation of PC rule #1, the internet diversity officer will be visiting you to shut down your racist site.
Alden Pyle on August 12, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Well, San Fran Nan has told at-risk seats to support drilling for the time being until after the election. So, yeah. You’ll see a lot more of the Messiah’s flock abandoning ship.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on August 12, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Obama as nominee is starting to sound more and more like a ‘clerical mistake’.
Think_b4_speaking on August 12, 2008 at 10:35 AM
There will probably be a lot more Dims trying to pretend they don’t know Obama by the time November rolls around.
AZCoyote on August 12, 2008 at 10:36 AM
The best part will be watching the Obamaphiles excommunicate her from the Messiah’s flock. I’m betting the letter has already been sent:
““You are directed to come in to the Party Headquarters and explain your actions and why you should remain a Senator…”
trubble on August 12, 2008 at 10:36 AM
O’Bama peaked too early. McCain was right, he’s a pop-star candidate and he’s “yesterday”.
Don Carne on August 12, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Uh, if that’s what passes for a Democrat fundraising event then the gals shouldn’t be surprised or upset when Obama calls them “sweetie.” Really, Girls Night Out?
BigD on August 12, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Tapper says this:
So is that the “political reality” or is it the fact that Landrieu is an early and stalwart advocate of offshore drilling?
Bringing up what happened in 1990 and 1991 with David Duke seems to be digging awfully deep for signs of racism here.
Buy Danish on August 12, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Th-th-th-that’s all folks!
D0WNT0WN on August 12, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Now this is where I got mad at Tapper yesterday. At the end of his post about this, he mentioned that Duke of the klan did well with white voters in Louisiana. Just threw it in as an extra paragraph.
I commented that Bobby Jindal also did well with white voters in Louisiana, but my comment was deleted. Then I commented that Landreiu and Obama differed on oil policy, and that comment was deleted. I love Tapper, but he’s got the race thing going lately.
MayBee on August 12, 2008 at 10:40 AM
One more thing:
As a female Democrat, Landrieu probably has a lot of Hillary supporters who want her to throw Obama under the bus, so she is wise to distance herself from Hillary’s arch nemesis.
Buy Danish on August 12, 2008 at 10:41 AM
That David Duke analogy is crap ABC. A minority was elected in huge numbers to be governor of the state, Bobby Jindal.
What Landrieu wants to portray herself as is a conservative. When she is not. Obama has socialist and radical associations.
jencab on August 12, 2008 at 10:41 AM
I’d love to wath the preDenver emails flying back and forth amongst the superdelegates. Watching The One put the ball on the ground during the Russia-Georgia dustup must have caused some heart palpitations. Now, if the planets line up just right, perhaps Clenis will weigh in with foreign policy thoughts as Her Majesty lurks in the wings.
a capella on August 12, 2008 at 10:43 AM
This is one good reason why Jindal needs to follow through. A few more successful years and he will have a proved Conservative track record. I can’t wait — Jindal is doing a fine job.
tarpon on August 12, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Comrades, Mary Landrieu shall report immediately to DNC headquarters to explain her slight of the Great and Glorious Leader (May He Live Forever) and appropriate punishment shall then be assigned by the “committee”…
sabbott on August 12, 2008 at 10:44 AM
Didn’t they just elect a brown-skinned person as their governor?
Or are people not racists only if they elect non-white Dems?
blue13326 on August 12, 2008 at 10:44 AM
Will anyone be willing to be Obama’s VP?
JiangxiDad on August 12, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Landrieu is also a part of the Gang of Ten trying to burnish her pro-energy credentials heading into Nov. I hope the good voters of LA can see this for the political maneuvering it it because should she win in Nov she will likely line right up behind Reid and oppose drilling.
DerKrieger on August 12, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Had a chance conversation last night with a 75-yr old UNION-member lifelong democrat working at the Vegas airport. (Philipino-born, 30yrs citizen here) She had been a Hillary! supporter.
She and all her family are voting McCain.
Fishoutofwater on August 12, 2008 at 10:48 AM
This is getting hilarious. Other people are now starting to throw Obama under the bus.
Anyone got a call into Ray Nagin, gonna need more buses.
GarandFan on August 12, 2008 at 10:49 AM
The polarization in LA and MS is very real, but not overt. Katrina was good for the left to demagouge Bush, that comes with a price. The forgotten people in the Katrina scenario are pooor whites that lost everything while FEMA, the media, and Bush all sought to pacify racial tensions coming out of New Orleans. Tensions that originated from Mary Landrieu’s and Ray Nagin’s incompetance, and failure to act in an emergency. The non-victim class of New Orleans and LA have not forgotten. If Landrieu retains her seat it is due to the GOP missing an opportunity by a) allowing the media to set the narrative on Katrina and b) letting Landrieu off the hook. FEMA came to her well before Katrina hit and offered assistance she only wanted $500,000 and refused additional assistance. Then Bush got all the blame. *sigh*
Obama is just another racial/liberal flashpoint. LA is far to conservative for Landrieu to risk it.
Theworldisnotenough on August 12, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Maybe the normally thick, unattentive, American public is starting to see the implications of our being too dependent on foreign oil AND the folly of unproven “alternatives” as well as the vacuous shallowness of The One.
DerKrieger on August 12, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Why didn’t Tapper mention that Louisiana was on the pro-slavery side in the Civil War? Also significant is that the Rolling Stones name New Orleans as the site of a slave market.
snaggletoothie on August 12, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Get ready, Landrieu! You are about to be thrown under the B.O. bus!
pilamaye on August 12, 2008 at 10:52 AM
You must understand that the American electorate is degenerating by the minute. The number of cluless voters is growing, and the number of informed voters is shrinking. What will determind future elections is not substance but meaningless fluff. And, Obama is long on fluff.
saiga on August 12, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Expect Kanye West to weigh in at any moment.
swami on August 12, 2008 at 10:57 AM
Not fluff – promises of government paid for goodies, i.e. $1,000 paid to low income workers to offset the price of energy, government paid health care, government sponsored 401k plans, government paid “free” college tuition. Far too many people will vote to loot their neighbor and our own government enables this theft.
DerKrieger on August 12, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Flake Crapper…er, Jake Tapper…is a pathetic Obama shill. Nearly every comment I’d leave on his blog would get deleted. So, I started signing my comments with “This comment will be deleted in 5…4…3…2…”
Since then, my comments have stayed on his blog. Children are so prone to reverse psychology.
This comment will remain until the end of time…
ynot4tony2 on August 12, 2008 at 10:59 AM
I’d bet Hillary would do it. She doesn’t have anything to lose and it would keep her in contention for the presidency, even though it’s longer term.
BigD on August 12, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Good point! Obama under the bus is what we are seeing now. Oh,how I bet they are regretting backing this clown.
becki51758 on August 12, 2008 at 11:02 AM
I can’t imagine anyone with notions of a political future tying themselves to Icarus. That leaves people like Peters and Biden.
JiangxiDad on August 12, 2008 at 11:04 AM
I am not endorsing the Gang of 10, but your scenario is not going to happen.
Buy Danish on August 12, 2008 at 11:07 AM
New Orleans has the most shamefull welfare vote farming operation there is. Recipients receive money and are rolled out of the refrigerator every 2 years, then rolled back in after elections. The result of that program is that it produced one of the most worthless resident populations found in the entire country. Lazyness, ignorance, crime, obesity, alcholism, out of wedlock births, corruption, and the general uselessness found there is unsurpassed.
That demonstration has soured many other local residents in that area of the country. Call it the bigotry of low expectation. I call it shamefull. The local politicians really don’t give a hoot in a rainbarrel about the welfare of those people; all they care about is keeping power so they can keep stealing government money.
saiga on August 12, 2008 at 11:09 AM
I was only thinking that being on the ticket as VP would help set her up for a potential run later, whether Obama loses and she runs again in four years, or whether Obama wins and she potentially succeeds him. At this point, having been through the primary, I don’t really think her political future is tied to Obama’s.
I don’t consider myself particularly politically astute, but somehow I don’t think it would hurt her.
BigD on August 12, 2008 at 11:11 AM
I got news for you guys…. Landrieu is KILLING Kennedy with her ads.
Landrieu has managed to squeak into office both times, winning by the smallest of margins. I ~thought~ this might be the race where her luck ran out… but her ads are devastating and Kennedy either isn’t responding or doesn’t have the money to…
Mary is spending a mountain of money on TV air time.
And (sadly) the 2 ads I’ve seen are very, very good.
30 days ago I could have said the race was too close to call.. now I’m increasingly pessimistic. (but realistic)
Diogenes of Sinope on August 12, 2008 at 11:12 AM
1. The event is in Washington DC. Kinda a funny joke if you’re saying she’s become a creature of inside the Beltway.
2. Jake Tapper sure is hitting the race thing hard, isn’t he?
So the MSM thinks Obama’s going to lose, and already they are telling us it’s because we’re all racists. I kinda expected it, but really guys. It’s August.
funky chicken on August 12, 2008 at 11:18 AM
Dunno Buy Danish. She was the deciding vote that killed lifting the moratorium on going after the western oil shale. She gave the weak excuse that she only voted that way as a favor to Ken Salazar, but I could see her going back to Reid’s side on drilling too. It appears she hasn’t paid a political price for killing oil shale development.
funky chicken on August 12, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Albatross!
Kafir on August 12, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Do I hear the steady drumming of the “race police” coming to claim racism?
Methinks so.
madmonkphotog on August 12, 2008 at 11:25 AM
I’ll be shocked if it’s Hillary. Remember all those MSM stories that quoted “sources inside the Obama campaign” who said that Hillary was pushing to get the VP nod? I think they were total BS, and desperate attempts to get her to sign on right after he (barely) squeaked over the line to (most likely) secure the nomination.
But Hillary already knew he was electoral poison so she wouldnt’ accept the offer. She’s not gonna be this year’s Silky Pony, especially now.
funky chicken on August 12, 2008 at 11:28 AM
It’s risky in most parts of the country for politicians to be in the “close friends of Obama” photo lineup in a TV ad, and not because Obama’s black. It’s because that lineup includes Tony Rezko, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and Bernardine Dohrn, the last of which even admired Charlie Manson’s means of revolution. Southern pols can imagine that TV ad, and want no part of it.
RBMN on August 12, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Oh, I don’t think it will be her. Jianxi Dad’s question was who would be willing? And I thought their might be some plusses for both her and the Dems. She could pull Obama out of the “gravitas” fire (I can’t believe I’m saying that), get some of those bitter clinger and feminist votes, ease the convention tension, and set herself up for another run at the presidency later.
BigD on August 12, 2008 at 11:35 AM
I can’t believe it when I read stuff like that, honestly my only impression was in the aftermath of Katrina, but three things were abundantly clear to me in the month or so following the hurricane on TV.
1) Ray Nagin was incompetent
2) Governor whatever her name was incompetent (She lost no?)
3) Landrieu was incompetent
I am amazed because even to a non yankee like me these 3 things were abundantly obvious, that this woman is still in a big race as opposed to pursuing another career amazes me.
saus on August 12, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Obama acts an awful lot like Ray Nagin.
Another smooth talker with no idea what it is he’s doing.
And while the dwindling population of New Orleans re-elected clown Democrat clown Nagin, the rest of Louisiana sent Kathleen Blanco a message and that worthless dingbat decided not to seek re-election.
Obama is another Nagin. The people of Louisiana don’t want Nagin in the White House.
NoDonkey on August 12, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Interesting…but that was then and this is now. The pressure to split from someone like that jackass Salazar is stronger now.
Plus Louisiana benefits from offshore drilling while drilling for shale in Colorado is not in her constituent’s backyard.
Buy Danish on August 12, 2008 at 11:49 AM
No discussion about Mary Landrieu is complete without a link to the Wuzzadem classic after Katrina-
“See, we couldn’t use those busses, they were FLOODED.”
Tman on August 12, 2008 at 11:56 AM
“It is the will of Landrieu!”
-Star Trek, “Return of the Archons”
Spanglemaker on August 12, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Landrieu is pretty safe despite the poll numbers, always close since nobody really likes her either. She’s running against a lackluster candidate who just got an ethics complaint filed against him for using his office (Secretary of State) for campaign purposes.
The telling thing will be whether or not Landrieu can win a state-wide election without the “chocolate vote” of New Orleans which has been much dissipated to Houston, Atlanta, etc. since the storm.
highhopes on August 12, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Mary Landrieu MUST be a closet racist. Otherwise, she would host the event for “THE ONE”.
originalpechanga on August 12, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Obama and a white woman in a picture together without a phallic symbol? What is happening to our racist compulsions?
volsense on August 12, 2008 at 12:10 PM
I much prefer Naginisms although the current scandal may put an end to this form of entertainment. My favorites include:
New Orleans is a chocolate city.
New Orleans is a vagina-friendly city.
The high murder rate keeps New Orleans brand out there in the public eye.
And the “we are about to turn the corner” line about recovery that Nagin has been using for three freakin’ years.
Bottom line is that New Orleans has squandered the opportunity to make itself into something better than the pre-storm status quo. Politicians like Landrieu, Vitter, Nagin, and Jefferson are the reason why that opportunity was squandered. They all need to be run out of office and, preferably, out of the state. Nagin’s made a good first step considering his family lives in Dallas now.
highhopes on August 12, 2008 at 12:12 PM
I hadnt seen that. hahaha Good Stuff!
becki51758 on August 12, 2008 at 12:14 PM
I suspect there must be a bunch of gun clutching antipathy by folks who don’t eat arugula or shop at whole foods.
or
they’re people who like consistency in presidential portraits on the currency and don’t like funny sounding names.
or (for folks who can’t read between lines)
they’re racist philistines.
moxie_neanderthal on August 12, 2008 at 12:32 PM
This could be some Dem convention just among the protesters:
Feminists wearing “Sweetie” banners holding signs for Hillary
and
young women carrying babies wearing banners for Edwards.
All in good fun, Sweeties.
Doug on August 12, 2008 at 1:20 PM
Got your NO buses right here, GarandFan.
BillH on August 12, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Well, let’s start with that fact I hate her more than any other pol in the state…. so you know where I stand.
BUT since the storm she has not done a horrible job. — Now she hasn’t done a good job but she hasn’t done a horrible job either. And that’s on my scale.
What none of the “national” pundits are talking about is how much the Vitter hooker scandal helped her. Before that we had a competent, qualified popular Republican senator which stood in stark contrast to the whiny (mostly) incompetent liberal Senator.
But as life would have it, taking the shine off Vitter makes her not look so bad after all. (it’s sorta human nature)
Before the scandal you would often hear people compare the two and say they wanted another Republican. After the scandal broke, that talk vaporized.
None of this is to say people love her, indeed they never have. But she has a ton of money and that makes a big difference.
She may lose but I’m just telling ya up front, don’t get your hopes up.
Diogenes of Sinope on August 12, 2008 at 2:04 PM
Yeah Mary, we understand…
(in part)
Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters
Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don’t steal, don’t lift
Twenty years of schoolin
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don’t wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don’t wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don’t work
Cause the vandals took the handle.
byteshredder on August 12, 2008 at 2:14 PM
Um, by the calendar we use out West, August 18th won’t be a Tuesday until 2009…
Captain Scarlet on August 12, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Ode to Obama: “I May Be Wrong”
I may be wrong, but I think you’re wonderful.
I may be wrong, but I think you’re swell.
I like your style; say, I think it’s marvelous.
I’m always wrong, so how can I tell?
All of my shirts are unsightly;
All of my ties are a crime.
If, dear, in you I’ve picked rightly,
It’s the very first time.
But I can’t see, so how can I tell?
Deuces to me are all aces;
Life is to me just a bore.
Faces are all open spaces;
You might be John Barrymore.
You came along, Say, I think you’re wonderful.
I think you’re grand,
BUT I MAY BE WRONG!
By Harry Ruskin for Miss Trixie Landrieu
maverick muse on August 12, 2008 at 3:41 PM
Lucky you. Jefferson and Nagin are my top two. She’s probably #3 but I’ve never been a fan of Vitters (too slimey and opportunistic even as a Congressman). Landrieu is merely incompetent, not overtly corrupt and/or incompetent as Jefferson and Nagin.
P.S. I agree that the likelihood of her losing in November is less than the pundits are suggesting.
highhopes on August 12, 2008 at 3:46 PM
Nagin really said that? oh dear
funky chicken on August 12, 2008 at 3:47 PM
The scary thing was, he was serious. He later tried a bit of backtracking by pointing out that it was just the drug dealers killing one another and the tourists in the French Quarter were relatively safe. So New Orleans brand is a tourist-safe place so long as you don’t come across a lost drug dealer!
highhopes on August 12, 2008 at 4:18 PM
I’ve been wondering that the last couple of days myself. I have also been wondering, at what point should McCain ready himself to face Hillary, and not Obama, in the fall election. I think Barack Obama is going to get pushed aside, or to the VP slot, at the convention.
Kevin71 on August 12, 2008 at 6:57 PM
@ highhopes on August 12, 2008 at 3:46 PM
heh- I’m in mee-tear-ree so they don’t represent me but she does. If I lived in Orleans I’d probably hate Jefferson more..
But consider this…
At least with Jefferson and Nagin you know what you have. Mary is just a slimy snake who will say anything to anyone for personal power. That’s why my hatred for her is more personal. YMMV.
Diogenes of Sinope on August 13, 2008 at 12:24 AM