LA Dems confirm they can live with Boasso but not Jindal

Two Louisiana Democrats, from different parts, even factions, of the party both recently delivered the same confirmation of the party’s statewide election strategy – prevent at all costs the election of Republican Rep. Bobby Jindal as governor this fall.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, when asked what will become of the $3 million or so in her campaign coffers now that she will not run for another term, didn’t have any specific answer. Blanco can use it for any non-personal, legal purpose as long as she remains in office. What many in a similar situation have done is refunded a portion to contributors, who then may turn around and give to other candidates, or can directly and indirectly give to other candidates.

Translation: Blanco doesn’t like Democrat candidate Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, or doesn’t like his chances of winning, or both, and she is not going allow any assistance to filter its way to candidate and Republican-in-Democrat-clothing state Sen. Walter Boasso. It’s an admission that Campbell cannot win, and that state Democrats need to cut their losses by pinning their hopes that Boasso, who can self-finance his campaign to a degree, can win – but that a loyalist Democrat like Blanco was not going to directly assist him in any way.

It’s a similar message as that sent by the party’s Chairman Chris Whittington, who conceded the party’s main strategy would be to attack Jindal. Again, it shows the state party has little faith that Campbell can win, that no major contender from their side is going to enter, and that Boasso is the lesser of two evils. If they truly accepted Boasso, they would come to his aid, and if they really thought Campbell could win, they would put big money behind him.

Translation: as predicted, the Democrats’ main concern, no doubt goaded by the national party, is to do anything to stop Jindal, which is why if they can’t get a genuine Democrat with a chance of winning to run, their only choice is to launch a ferocious attack on Jindal which will feature absurd charges, illogical accusations, and gross distortions that hopefully will poison the state’s politics enough to allow a relative unsullied Boasso to beat Jindal.

It’s not likely to work, because Jindal is by now a seasoned campaigner with plenty of campaign resources and does a good job of contrasting the superiority of his core conservative, reformist beliefs with the inferiority inherent to that of power-hungry liberalism and populism. But Democrats will not lay down without a fight because their loss of power, while good for the state, obviously they don’t desire, and that’s why a torrent of mud with little discussion of constructive policy will be dumped by Democrats by summertime.