My husband and I are moving to Louisiana in three weeks, and we're moving right into the middle of a gubernatorial race. I was expecting weirdness in politics; it is Louisiana, for heaven's sake. But I have never faced the kind of political dilemma we have on our hands here...
I knew the Republican candidate is Bobby Jindal, described by my Louisiana-native friends as "the right-wing hick from India." In fact, when I went apartment hunting last week, I saw Jindal propaganda all over creation:
Saints for Jindal
LSU Fans for Jindal
Women for Jindal
Right-Wing Hicks from India for Jindal
OK, I made that last one up. But you get the point. I saw NOTHING related to ANY other candidate, Democratic, Green, Natural Law, or any other thing you could think of.
When I got home, I entered "2007 Louisiana governor Democratic candidates" into Google so I could get some idea of what my options are. Here's who I came up with (info courtesy of Squidoo):
Hardy Parkerson:
Lake Charles attorney. He is running as a self-described "Ronald Reagan Conservative Democratic Family Forum Christian-Coalition States' Rights candidate."
Ye gods! No thank you. Next, we have Foster Campbell:
Louisiana Public Service Commissioner for District 5, 2002-Present; St. Senator, 1976-2002. Campbell, a cattle farmer and owner of an insurance agency from Bossier Parish. As a state senator and as a Public Service Commissioner, Campbell pushed to regulate and lower utility rates. A centerpiece of his populist campaign is a proposal to tax foreign oil refined in Louisiana and use the proceeds to eliminate personal income tax.
Um, a little better, but still not great. Ugh. Moving on, we have Raymond Brown (I can't find any site on the whole internets dedicated to this guy):
Minister and African-American political activist from New Orleans; Louisiana Chairman of Reverend Al Sharpton's organization, the National Action Network. Brown received 2% of the vote in the 2002 U.S. Senate race and has also run for a number of other political offices. Brown's campaign platform includes calls for a ban on flying the Confederate flag in public, making life in prison a maximum 20-year sentence, treatment for drug addicts instead of jail time, an end to the death penalty, and a state law banning racial profiling.
Hmm. Interesting ideas, but there's just no way on earth this guy will stand a chance against Jindal. Finally, the guy with the most buzz that I've seen so far, Walter Boasso.
Elected to the State Senate in 2003, representing St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish. He is also president and CEO of Boasso America Corp., a network of shipping container facilities, and has served on the Port of New Orleans Board of Commissioners. He has received a reputation as a conservative, pro-business legislator. After Hurricane Katrina, Boasso achieved prominence as one for the state's leading advocates for consolidation and reform of the state's Levee Boards. He switched to the Democratic Party on April 26, 2007.
AAGH!
The whole situation is that much more complicated by the fact that if Jindal should lose, as unlikely as that seems, he'd turn his evil little ambitions on to Mary Landrieu's Senate seat. That is unacceptable, so there's an idea floating around some of my friends in Louisiana to just vote him into the governorship to keep him out of the Senate.
So here's my dilemma: What on earth are we supposed to do here? Jindal is odious and awful. The Democratic candidates are... weak, let's say kindly. Even in Alabama, I was never this lost as to who to support. I can't figure this out on my own, so I'm throwing it out to the Daily Kos community. What do y'all suggest?