Louisiana fought corruption and corruption won.
The voters of Louisiana have spoken and by a 57% margin they have returned Rep. William Jefferson (D. LA) back to the US House of Representatives. I can not help but draw comparisons between this election and another Louisiana election 15 years ago in 1991. Both are so very similar. In 1991, Edwin Edwards was running for his fourth (non-consecutive) term as the Governor of Louisana. Edwards, a Democrat, had been one of the most popular Governors in the State of Louisiana, with perhaps the sole exception of Huey P. Long (also a Democrat). First elected to the Governorship in 1972 he won reelection in 1976 but either lost in the Primary or decided not to run again. In any event, David C. Treen became the next Governor. In 1984 he staged a comeback by defeating Treen, but lost to Buddy Roemer in 1988. Edwards had long been dogged by charges of corruption. In a quote from Wikipedia.com; "After his 1983 victory, Edwards took some 600 supporters on a controversial 8-day European tour, including France. Each paid $10,000. Edwards expected a 70 percent profit on the contributors' tickets in order to retire a whopping $4.2 million campaign debt. Many questioned the propriety of the governor being indebted to "fat cats" to pay his campaign debts."
"The third Edwards administration went badly by all accounts. The oil money that fueled the success of Edwards's first two terms was in short supply in the third term. Edwards was also forced to stand trial on charges of corruption brought by U.S. Attorney John Volz." Edwards was ultimately acquited of these charges, but the damage was done. One of the campaign slogans that came about was "Anybody but Edwards", and Roemer overtook Edwards in the Primary. But Edwards would stage one more comeback. After he lost the Primary in 1987, a reporter for the now defunct Shreveport Journal is said to have written that "The only way Edwin Edwards could ever be elected again was to run against Adolf Hitler". How ironic this would turn out to be. Before the 1991 election Roemer became a Republican and the problems with his cubersome "switch" enabled former Ku Klux Klansman, and Neo-Nazi David Duke to win the Republican Primary. This gave rise to campaign slogans reminding Louisiana voters of the choice they faced between "the Racist" and "the Crook". Bumper sticker slogans such as "Vote for the Crook. It's important" and "Better a lizard than a wizard" appeared during the election. Understandably, Edwards won, and as predicted, more corruption followed. Edwards was later convicted in 1998 on 17 of 26 Federal charges including, racketeering, extortion, mail fraud and wire fraud. He is scheduled to be released from prison in 2011 (source Wikipedia.com).
So what, you ask, does this have to do with Rep. William Jefferson? Can you not see the similarities? Both are from a political machine that seems to breed corruption. Rep. William Jefferson, like Edwin Edwards before him, is mired in corruption. Federal agents who raided his office and home seized, among other evidence, $90,000 from a freezer in his home. Jefferson has been accused of taking bribes from a company trying to get into the lucrative Nigerian Telecom market. Unlike Edwards, Jefferson has yet to be charged by the Fed's in more than a year of investigations. I am almost willing to bet it is coming though. As in the election between Edwards and Duke, the voters of Louisiana had a choice. They had a choice between William Jefferson, the first black Congressman from Louisiana since Reconstruction, and state Rep. Karen Carter, a 37 year old black woman seeking to become the first black woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. The only potentially "black" mark against her was an accusation by the Jefferson campaign that she benefited from no-bid "sweetheart" contracts with the City Council of New Orleans as their legal advisor for utility regulation. Other than this, not a "stain" of corruption allegations could I find against her. They did not have a choice between a "Crook" and a "Racist", they had a choice between an African American Congressman accused of corruption and a consciencious young African American woman. But like the election of Edwin Edwards, the voters of Louisiana again chose the politician mired in corruption. THROW DA BUMS OUT!
"The third Edwards administration went badly by all accounts. The oil money that fueled the success of Edwards's first two terms was in short supply in the third term. Edwards was also forced to stand trial on charges of corruption brought by U.S. Attorney John Volz." Edwards was ultimately acquited of these charges, but the damage was done. One of the campaign slogans that came about was "Anybody but Edwards", and Roemer overtook Edwards in the Primary. But Edwards would stage one more comeback. After he lost the Primary in 1987, a reporter for the now defunct Shreveport Journal is said to have written that "The only way Edwin Edwards could ever be elected again was to run against Adolf Hitler". How ironic this would turn out to be. Before the 1991 election Roemer became a Republican and the problems with his cubersome "switch" enabled former Ku Klux Klansman, and Neo-Nazi David Duke to win the Republican Primary. This gave rise to campaign slogans reminding Louisiana voters of the choice they faced between "the Racist" and "the Crook". Bumper sticker slogans such as "Vote for the Crook. It's important" and "Better a lizard than a wizard" appeared during the election. Understandably, Edwards won, and as predicted, more corruption followed. Edwards was later convicted in 1998 on 17 of 26 Federal charges including, racketeering, extortion, mail fraud and wire fraud. He is scheduled to be released from prison in 2011 (source Wikipedia.com).
So what, you ask, does this have to do with Rep. William Jefferson? Can you not see the similarities? Both are from a political machine that seems to breed corruption. Rep. William Jefferson, like Edwin Edwards before him, is mired in corruption. Federal agents who raided his office and home seized, among other evidence, $90,000 from a freezer in his home. Jefferson has been accused of taking bribes from a company trying to get into the lucrative Nigerian Telecom market. Unlike Edwards, Jefferson has yet to be charged by the Fed's in more than a year of investigations. I am almost willing to bet it is coming though. As in the election between Edwards and Duke, the voters of Louisiana had a choice. They had a choice between William Jefferson, the first black Congressman from Louisiana since Reconstruction, and state Rep. Karen Carter, a 37 year old black woman seeking to become the first black woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. The only potentially "black" mark against her was an accusation by the Jefferson campaign that she benefited from no-bid "sweetheart" contracts with the City Council of New Orleans as their legal advisor for utility regulation. Other than this, not a "stain" of corruption allegations could I find against her. They did not have a choice between a "Crook" and a "Racist", they had a choice between an African American Congressman accused of corruption and a consciencious young African American woman. But like the election of Edwin Edwards, the voters of Louisiana again chose the politician mired in corruption. THROW DA BUMS OUT!
posted by Drac at 6:45:00 PM
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