At this point I think it goes without saying that the only thing that may elicit more “rage” from the Cajun Carville other than Republican shenanigans is anyone or anything that is foolish enough to mess around with his beloved Gulf Coast. Agree or disagree with his recent rhetoric, the bottom line is that the guy doesn’t screw around when he feels his home front us under assault.
Lest you think that Carville’s spite and sarcasm has been used exclusively for friendly fire as of late, Indiana Democrats woke up this morning to a message from Carville aimed squarely at Republican senate candidate Dan Coats, the senator-turned-lobbyist-turned-candidate who for whatever reason decided that an anti-establishment year was the best time to leave decade-long stint in D.C. as an insider lobbyist.
Carville didn’t hold back:
Dan Coats, the Republican nominee for Senate is a lobbyist for big corporate special interests like chemical companies, oil companies, and insurance companies. And get this: Coats' lobbying and law firm counts among its clients the two corporations directly involved in the Gulf oil disaster: BP and Halliburton.
BP is the most irresponsible - and most often fined - major oil company in the world ... by a wide margin. How could such an irresponsible company be allowed to jeopardize the health and economic livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families along our Gulf Coast?
Let me say it again. Two companies share the responsibility for the Gulf catastrophe. They are: BP and Halliburton - they are both clients of Dan Coats' law and lobbying firm, King and Spalding.
For more information on the relationship between Coats and BP, check out this great post on the Lobbyist Dan Coats website.
This race has been hard to peg, as most of the initial polling was prior to Democratic candidate Brad Ellsworth launching his election campaign. While Indiana is never all that sympathetic in a Generic R v. Generic D scenario, Coats’ increasingly negative narrative should have a palpable effect the next time someone runs the numbers.
(Ahem, I’m looking with hopeful eyes to you, my good ‘kos.)
It’s also worth noting that none of this is taking place in a vacuum. All of this comes in the midst of the continuing controversy over Coats' refusal to come clean about who he represented during his decade in D.C., and what that representation entailed. His attorney-client privilege cop-out fell flat, and Hoosiers are still waiting for a straight answer as to what Coats was up to when he abandoned our state for the greener pastures of Washington D.C. Virginia North Carolina.
In the end, Carville signed off with a pretty succinct summary of why Dan Coats is bad for the Hoosier State:
Lobbyists already have too much power in Washington. We can't afford to be electing them to the United States Senate.
Amen. For those with some spare change burning a hole in their pocket, you can donate to the campaign effort here.