The Devil You Know

I've talked about this before, but a little background might be in order.  Tomorrow, Louisiana goes to the polls for our general election.  Louisiana has a "jungle" primary system, where all of the candidates run in one primary, regardless of party affiliiation. If one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, that candidate wins.  If not, the two top vote-getters run again in a general election (we call it the run-off) to decide who wins.

This leads to some odd results.  In the primary last month, we had four main candidates, three Republican and one Democrat.  The Democrat, John Bel Edwards, took 40% of the vote and the three Republicans split 57% of the vote.  Several "no-name" candidates garnered three percent.  After all the votes were counted, Republican Senator David Vitter came in 2nd, with 23% of the vote.  So, Edwards-D, and Vitter-R will face off for the run-off which will be decided tomorrow.

David Vitter is a tarnished candidate.  We've talked about this before.  I simply cannot vote for David Vitter.  There are a lot of other votes like me, who don't want to vote for a Democrat for governor, but simply think that Vitter is too tarnished, too damaged, too sleazy to pull a lever with his name beside it.  So, what we're left with is the distinct probability that tomorrow, Louisiana will elect a Democrat as our governor.  So be it.

I fault the Republican party of Louisiana.  They've hitched their horse to this damaged politician, and backed him when they could have found another candidate.  By standing with Vitter, they've allowed Edwards to work himself into a spot where he stands a better-than-average chance of being governor.

Louisiana might find itself in the weird position of being a blood-red state with a blue governor.  Such is the manner of Louisianna politics.  Some have asked why I don't hold my nose and vote -R-, and the simple answer is that I simply can't vote for David Vitter.  Louisiana Republicans have no one to blame but themselves.