DJ David and the Diapers, last night, as he accepts his participation trophy for his second-place finish in last night's open primary. Three months ago, the conventional wisdom was that Senator Huggies would face rough challenges from two Republican foes, Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle. In the mix was also Democratic State Representative John Bel Edwards, the lone serious Democratic candidate. The narrative went, Huggies and Edwards both would garner 30% of the vote, facing each other in next month's runoff.
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I've been very critical of John Bel Edwards' campaign, since the spring. He's a good man. He's a really good man, to the point where I feared that he would be rolled by mudslide that is a campaign for Senator Huggies. I was right about JBE, but what I didn't factor in was the extent other Republicans in Louisiana can't stand Huggies. They can't stand him to the point where a ton of money flowed through the system. Angelle and Dardenne personally went after Huggies, and PACs aligned with interests that would not do well in a Huggies administration also went after him. Huggies would say Angelle supports "Obamaphones"; a PAC then would run a spot with a crying baby in just a diaper.
Ugly stuff. Still, John Bel stayed above it personally.
All that ugly and all that money, combined with everything you've read about the collapse of the Huggies campaign this week led to this:
John Bel's GOTV effort was solid, and the attacks on Huggies boosted the totals for his Republican opponents. Now, JBE needs to get the 40% of folks who voted for him yesterday back out, but he only needs to sway another 10% of the electorate.
Huggies needs to persuade almost ALL of Dardenne's and Angelle's voters to come out for him. That's a serious mountain for him to climb.
Please consider a contribution to John Bel Edwards' campaign. He's ready to move into the Mansion. To quote my friend Lynda:
Join me in supporting Hope over Huggies.