Populist

Campbell would be a Jon Tester type of candidate in Louisiana. I have not seen any polls yet on what chances he might have in the Democratic primary but I would think he should poll well in the general election.

BlueSunbelt.Com Netroots for the Sunbelt states robwire.com My personal blog

---

by: rob @ Wed Dec 20, 2006 at 18:37:06 PM UTC

La doesn't have a democratic primary

every election is a runoff. If no one hits 50, the top two candidates face off on the December runoff. I think we should have that rule nationally to prevent spoilers like in Minnesota. If any third party gets over five percent, then there should be a dman runoff. Anyway, I the thing I like about Foster Campell is that he hails from a more conservative area, North LA, and he's proven his populism can win in conservative areas. the only problem is that if Jindall is the only Republican running, it could be a repeat of 2004 Sen. I hope some conservative Northern Republican state senator will challenge Jindall and split the Republican vote to make sure there will be a runoff.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

---

by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 22:00:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Another Republican...

Another Republican would be good. If Campbell could end up in the top 2 with Jindall he would have a good shot at winning. Bob Novak's column this week mentioned that Blanco may decide not to run as bad as things are looking.

BlueSunbelt.Com Netroots for the Sunbelt states robwire.com My personal blog

---

by: rob @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 23:21:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not sure

Isn't Louisiana changing to a primary system like other states next time? I read that somewhere but can't find a reference at the moment.

In any case, I'm not sure the current Louisiana system is so great. You can end up with the top two being people who have small groups of strong supporters but are hated by everybody else, as in the race between David Duke and Edwin Edwards in 1991 ("Vote for the crook -- it's important"). Maybe if it incorporated some sort of instant round-robin system to take into account which candidates are preferred over others by majorities of the population.

I have thought we need some kind of system similar to Louisiana's in DC, where the Democratic primary is the real election (the winner always wins the general), so non-Democrats are effectively disenfranchised (even more disenfranchised than the rest of us in DC are). But I don't know the best way to fix the flaws.

---

by: KCinDC @ Fri Dec 22, 2006 at 14:45:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Louisiana is changing it...

There will be normal primaries for Congressional races in 2008, but their wacky open system will still be in effect for state/gubernatorial races.

---

by: James L. @ Fri Dec 22, 2006 at 20:31:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks for clarifying that

as there has been a major disconnect on this issue.
Does anyone know if that was a Voter approved Measure or if it was just Legislated?

(-8.50/-7.44) "Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep." Dr. Howard Dean

---

by: Predictor @ Sat Dec 30, 2006 at 21:04:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Great scoop.

I don't know much about Foster, but conceptually I like this a lot.  I want to see what a good populist can do in Louisiana given the opportunity.  It could become a model to replicate elsewhere, if succcessful.

---

by: James L. @ Wed Dec 20, 2006 at 19:05:44 PM UTC