Governor Bel Edwards won while campainging against Donald Trump
In 2015, the then-Democratic legislator Edwards was up against a powerful but flawed Republican U.S. senator.
This time, November 2019, Edwards was fighting not just a novice challenger but a major societal trend, a hardening partisanship that has paralyzed Washington and is increasingly filtering down to the states, including this one. In an entirely related development, he was also up against the man at the center of that polarized universe, President Donald Trump, who won Louisiana in 2016 by 20 points.
This time, November 2019, Edwards was fighting not just a novice challenger but a major societal trend, a hardening partisanship that has paralyzed Washington and is increasingly filtering down to the states, including this one. In an entirely related development, he was also up against the man at the center of that polarized universe, President Donald Trump, who won Louisiana in 2016 by 20 points.
What put Edwards in such a politically precarious spot this time around wasn’t voter disapproval. In fact, he’s remained relatively popular, and has spent four years notching solid bipartisan accomplishments. They include a sales tax hike that helped dig the state out of the $2 billion hole he inherited, a criminal justice reform package that’s very much in line with Trump’s policies on the subject, and the first teacher pay raise in a decade.
Voters generally gave Edwards good marks for these things, his expansion of Medicaid, and his steady hand when disaster struck. One recent survey found that 54% of voters approved of his performance, with only 38% disapproving. In another, 52% gave him positive marks and just 31% didn’t.
That enough people voted against him to turn the race into a squeaker is a sign of the times — particularly given that Rispone was a significantly less imposing opponent than 2015 runoff opponent David Vitter.
A wealthy Baton Rouge businessman, (the Trumpzi supported) Rispone offered no public record and few distinct policy proposals to evaluate.
Voters generally gave Edwards good marks for these things, his expansion of Medicaid, and his steady hand when disaster struck. One recent survey found that 54% of voters approved of his performance, with only 38% disapproving. In another, 52% gave him positive marks and just 31% didn’t.
That enough people voted against him to turn the race into a squeaker is a sign of the times — particularly given that Rispone was a significantly less imposing opponent than 2015 runoff opponent David Vitter.
A wealthy Baton Rouge businessman, (the Trumpzi supported) Rispone offered no public record and few distinct policy proposals to evaluate.
Moreover, Rispone made himself scarce on the campaign trail, providing few opportunities for voters to take a real measure of him.
What he did do was pound some select themes. He vowed to reduce car insurance rates, crack down on trial lawyers, and hold a constitutional convention — although didn’t say what he’d change. He accused the objectively moderate Edwards of being a radical leftist.
And he hugged Trump as closely as he could, figuratively speaking. Rispone introduced himself to voters by showing off the Trump bumper sticker on his truck and mimicking the president’s hardline immigration rhetoric, even though immigration policy is set at the federal level. He attacked fellow Republican primary candidate Ralph Abraham for being insufficiently loyal to Trump, based on Abraham’s momentary hesitation back when the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape came out. And he likened his own profile as an outsider to the president’s.
For his part, Trump hugged Rispone right back. Donald Trump appeared at two (beer hall Trumpzi!) rallies in north Louisiana in the campaign’s last two weeks, and openly suggested that voters could send a “message” to Democrats in Washington by electing Rispone. Instead, they sent a different message, that Trump’s coattails aren’t enough to carry a weak candidate across the finish line against a strong one.
That’s got to be gratifying to Edwards, but the race’s closeness should also serve as a warning, particularly since the Legislature is expected to be even more conservative than the one he often battled during his first four years.
It hasn’t been easy for Edwards to govern as a Democrat in a state dominated by Republicans.
What he did do was pound some select themes. He vowed to reduce car insurance rates, crack down on trial lawyers, and hold a constitutional convention — although didn’t say what he’d change. He accused the objectively moderate Edwards of being a radical leftist.
And he hugged Trump as closely as he could, figuratively speaking. Rispone introduced himself to voters by showing off the Trump bumper sticker on his truck and mimicking the president’s hardline immigration rhetoric, even though immigration policy is set at the federal level. He attacked fellow Republican primary candidate Ralph Abraham for being insufficiently loyal to Trump, based on Abraham’s momentary hesitation back when the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape came out. And he likened his own profile as an outsider to the president’s.
For his part, Trump hugged Rispone right back. Donald Trump appeared at two (beer hall Trumpzi!) rallies in north Louisiana in the campaign’s last two weeks, and openly suggested that voters could send a “message” to Democrats in Washington by electing Rispone. Instead, they sent a different message, that Trump’s coattails aren’t enough to carry a weak candidate across the finish line against a strong one.
That’s got to be gratifying to Edwards, but the race’s closeness should also serve as a warning, particularly since the Legislature is expected to be even more conservative than the one he often battled during his first four years.
It hasn’t been easy for Edwards to govern as a Democrat in a state dominated by Republicans.
(Maine Writer disagrees with the following conclusion. Anybody who can snatch a political victory out of the jaws of Trumpzism is certainly up to the challenge of governing for four more years.)
Grace Notes ends her opinion echo, "It’s probably going to get harder from here." - Challenging, yes, but I can't imagine anything "harder" than getting more votes than Donald Trump and the political turncoat Senator Kennedy.
Labels: Grace Notes, Louisiana, The Times-Picayune
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 5:02 AM
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