Obama Factor Plays to Tarnished Senator's Advantage (Diaper Dave)

[last_texas_dem]

>>>>NEW ORLEANS — Mere survival was never the issue. Those familiar with Louisiana and its Republican senator, David Vitter, knew he would survive the summer of 2007, after he showed up on the client list of a Washington prostitution ring and then refused to address the matter beyond admitting to a “very serious sin” at a brief news conference.

What came as a surprise to many here is how he became a strong early favorite going into his 2010 re-election race. That turnabout is largely due to one person. “Along comes Obama,” said Elliott Stonecipher, a political analyst and demographer based in Shreveport, “and it changed everything.”

It is difficult to overstate President Obama’s unpopularity in most of Louisiana. He lost handily to Senator John McCain here, picking up only 14 percent of the white vote (the state is roughly two-thirds white). His health care plan is unpopular. His cap-and-trade plan to reduce greenhouse gases, in a state so dependent on oil and gas, is anathema.
In fact, in the South, which largely voted against Mr. Obama, the anger at his policies has been palpable, as shown by Wednesday outburst of a South Carolina Republican congressman, Joe Wilson, during Mr. Obama’s address to Congress.

Mr. Vitter, an intense and competitive politician, has taken this displeasure and run with it. Well before his Democratic opponent, Representative Charlie Melancon, announced his Senate candidacy on Aug. 27, Mr. Vitter’s campaign had been attacking him for his support of Mr. Obama.>>>>

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/us/11vitter.html

Only in LA would a moderate Democratic President (who happens to be black) whose policies would largely benefit the state be substantially less popular than a diaper-wearing, prostitute-frequenting Republican partisan hack (who happens to be white). OK, maybe there are a few other states where this might happen- but it seems that LA's growing redness, continuing racial tensions, and live-and-let-live attitude towards the antics of their politicians is combining to produce this peculiar circumstance.