“After four decades, the issues that I’ve spearheaded and fought for are now mainstream,” Mr. Duke said at a seafood restaurant here, sitting across from a large, taciturn diesel mechanic turned bodyguard. Talking of what he called the egregiousness of large-scale immigration, the war on Christmas, the nefarious plotting of the “Jewish elite” and the “cultural destruction” of white America, Mr. Duke was already declaring a sort of victory on the issues: “I’ve won, in the sense that these are now mainstream.”
On the one hand, Mr. Duke is widely seen here as a uniquely poisonous figure who must be publicly opposed, hence the recent reformation of a 26-year-old anti-Duke group, The Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism. The group includes former governors and United States senators, as well as Representative Steve Scalise, the third-ranking House Republican, who faced a national firestorm two years ago when it was revealed that he had spoken to a Duke-led group in 2002.
On the other hand, many of those who watched over the years as Mr. Duke attracted worldwide media attention and hauled in donations from his fans — a good deal of which he later pleaded guilty to spending on gambling and other personal pursuits — say the Duke campaign is just a tired publicity stunt…
Clancy DuBos, a political commentator who has covered Mr. Duke for decades, dismissed the media attention as “cheap headlines and click bait.”
“He’s not in this to win the Senate, he’s in this to make money,” he said.
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