So now the Republican primary moves into South Carolina and it’s about to get rough! This ad is put out by a Ted Cruz super PAC and targets Donald Trump.
It highlights the fact that Trump has given money to people like Nancy Pelosi and Anthony Weiner.
It also touches on a well- known imminent domain case where Trump tried to use the power of government to force a woman to sell her property. This was so Trump could build a parking lot.
Making that “Cruz missile” in the picture above took some serious effort on the part of Cruz supporters, and demonstrates great vigor and enthusiasm. I haven’t seen a giant phallus on the back of a loading truck with Marco Rubio’s name on it.
On the other hand, the Rubio camp is showing some serious mastery of talking points… talking points… talking points….
Moreover, Rubio can boast about his endorsement from my own former governor Bobby Jindal, which has seldom, if ever been helpful to any candidate anywhere at any time.
Trump is clearly in the lead in New Hampshire, but the contest for second and third place is gonna be a nail biter folks. And as Fox News informed us after Iowa, third place is what really matters.
When Jindal backs a candidate, bad things happen. Neil Riser had the support of Jindal during his ill-fated congressional election.
Riser was beaten by Vance McAllister, who later became known as the kissing congressman.
In 2012, Jindal supported Texas Governor Rick Perry for the GOP nomination.
Perry lost of course.
Saturday, Bobby Jindal announced that he was endorsing Senator Marco Rubio in his bid to win the GOP nomination.
Mere hours later, Marco Rubio experienced an epic debate meltdown that is quickly becoming the stuff of legends.
No less than FOUR TIMES, Rubio repeated the same canned, robotic talking points when questioned on the issue, confirming that he is a stuffed shirt with zero substance.
Video of the fiasco is below.
Rubio walked into this debate as the golden boy of the RINO establishment who seemed to be gaining momentum. When he left the stage, he was a complete laughing stock.
Rubio bungled things so badly that not even Fox News’ panel of political hacks was willing to claim victory for him.
That’s a VERY big deal, as Fox News declared Rubio the winner in Iowa and has been kissing his ass and propagandizing for him ever since.
This raisers some important questions.
Does Jindal’s endorsement have some dark, supernatural power that dooms candidates to failure?
Or does Jindal just have lousy judgment when it comes to who he should endorse?
The Times Picayune recently wrote a piece about John Alario. One thing the article illustrates is just how little difference there seems to be between the state’s two political parties.
Bobby Jindal’s right-hand man (Timmy Teepell) is a Republican and in the article has high praise for Alario:
Gov. Bobby Jindal‘s top political adviser, Timmy Teepell, described him as the top “franchise player” in the Louisiana Legislature, the type of person you build a whole political strategy around.
“He knows the process better than anyone else, and if he is on your team, it goes well,” Teepell said.
Alario’s apparent love fest with team Jindal must mean that Edwards, a Democrat will be looking to oust him from the senate president position right? Wrong:
Alario’s close affiliation with Edwin Edwards, a four-term Democratic governor who eventually served prison time for corruption, didn’t stop Jindal, a Republican governor who touted ethics reform as a top priority, from backing him for Senate president in 2012.
Likewise, Alario’s warm relationship with Jindal doesn’t appear to have given Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who fought Jindal’s agenda at every turn, any concerns either. Alario may have helped Jindal pass the state budgets that Edwards says landed Louisiana in its worst financial mess ever. But apparently, Edwards is not holding Alario responsible for the state’s budget troubles.
As the article points out, it’s hard to find anyone in state politics who will say anything bad about Alario.
So who, exactly, is willing to challenge your illustrious senate president?
Talk radio host Moon Griffon is mentioned in the article as “one of Alario’s most vocal critics.” Note the article says the he is one of Alario’s critics, which would seem to imply that there are others.
But if there are any other Alario critics, the article doesn’t mention them.
Moon’s take down of Alario back in April is epic and can be sen in the video below.
What a joke.
What a shameless peddling of blatant propaganda by a “news” organization. On the night of the Iowa Caucuses, the two candidates most hated by the Republican establishment came out on top. And Fox News pretty much declared victory for… Marco Rubio.
It was Monday night and, like many other political junkies, I was watching the results of the Iowa Caucuses as they rolled in. On the Republican side, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were in a very tight race until 99 percent of the vote was in and Ted Cruz was declared winner of the Republican Iowa Caucus.
I caught a glimpse of this on the screen at the gym while taking a break between sets of overhead presses. I then finished my workout and came back home to watch the post election analysis.
On a night like this, I try to get a variety of perspectives. I first turned to CNN. That’s right CNN. Yeah I know they have an allegedly leftward tilt in their coverage. But compared to what I saw later that evening, it was much closer to “fair an balanced” than the blatant and unabashed propaganda I saw on Fox News, which I will get to in a moment.
But first, a word about CNN’s coverage.
On CNN I saw a wide variety of Analysts representing a variety of political view points. Among them was Amanda Carpenter, who is a conservative who writes for the Conservative Review.
I haven’t been able to find footage of the actual analysis yet, but I did find this video, which is CNN’s Iowa Caucus coverage in three minutes. CNN acknowledged Cruz’s victory and Wolf Blitzer acknowledged that Cruz had done “extremely well.”
CNN’s coverage conveyed the obvious: the GOP establishment had been trounced. The two candidates most despised by the GOP establishment were the top two vote getters.
After watching CNN for a while I turned to Fox News.
On Fox News, it was like Cruz’s victory had never happened. Instead, Megyn Kelley and Krauthammer were talking about- Marco Rubio.
“What the hell?!?” I thought to myself.
You’ve heard it said that second place is just the first loser.
But Fox News wasn’t even talking about the guy who came in second place. They weren’t talking about the guy who came in first place. They were talking about who came in THIRD PLACE.
Meghan Kelley gushed that Rubio “did better than Trump with voters for whom the economy was the number one issue.”
Krauthammer praised Rubio for being “remarkabley articulate” candidate who “has a great story to tell.”
Kelly reminded the audience that Rubio did it all without a prompter. The duo went on to make comparisons between Cruz and Rubio, with Kelley raising the question of whether or not Cruz was “too conservative.” Krauthammer noted that Cruz had “a harder edge” and that in a general election he would have a harder time.
The whole exchange can be seen here.
If that isn’t enough to convince you that Fox News is in the tank for Rubio, here’s an opinion piece by Douglas E. Schoen found on the Fox News website.
The headline reads, “After Iowa, keep your eye on Marco Rubio, not Trump or Cruz.”
Forget the guys who came out on top, kids! The third place finisher is the real winner!
The article reads like propaganda, probably because it is:
Rubio has a compelling vision for the future of this nation. He is strong on national security and the most adept speaker.
He’s a fierce debater and has been the most pointed in his criticisms of Hillary Clinton.
It obviously paid off.
Pat Buchanan has described Rubio as “the establishment’s last hope” and he is right. It’s pretty obvious by now that Fox News has become an organ of that establishment, as evidenced by not only the coverage of the Iowa caucuses, but the previous debates as well.
During the first Fox News debate, anti-establishment candidate Donald Trump was a Target. When Trump wasn’t there to beat up on, Megyn Kelly and the FNC goons turned their guns on Ted Cruz, who is also despised by the RINO wing of the Republican party.
in its coverage of the battle for the GOP nomination, this network seems to be reaching for a whole new level of spin. It’s not fair and balanced. It’s not conservative. It is simply doing the bidding of the GOP power brokers.
Tonight I pulled my first 365 lb deadlift.
I did it at almost 43 years old and managed to do it without crapping out my spine.
I went to the gym tonight feeling really inspired by this video of a young woman, weighing about 100 pounds, getting a 220 pound bench press.
After performing this spectacular feat of strength, she climbs back into her wheel chair.
Public service commissioner Eric Skirmetta has endorsed Beth Mizell in he 12th district senate race, He has also endorsed Senator David Vitter for governor. This comes as no surprise to those of us who understand such concepts a ‘loyalty’ and ‘principles.’
I know these are increasingly rare concepts in politics these days. Republican Jay Dardenne turned on Senator Vitter by endorsing his Democratic opponent John Bel Edwards Rumor has it that Republican Scott Angelle is working secretly behind the scenes in fundraising efforts to get Edwards elected.
Mr. Skirmetta is standing with his party, and Mizell’s Democratic challenger is dumbfounded. A screen capture from a recent tweet of his is below.
Yes, Mr. Murphy Someone actually endorsed people other than yourself and John Bel Edwards. This is how things work in the real world. I know this is hard for you to understand, as you have spent much of your career presiding over your own personal, political fiefdom (back in your day it was called a trade school).
Much of your career was spent in an environment where you had near- dictatorial powers where you reigned supreme and no one dared challenge you.
This is the world of politics, where being challenged is what it’s all about .
If you can’t handle that- and clearly you can’t- then you don’t deserve to be in the Louisiana legislature.
Actually there’s a litany of reasons why you don’t belong in the legislature, but I write articles, not books, so we’ll have to stop there for now!
-Chad E. Rogers
Publisher
thedeadpelican.com
The 12th district senate race is a fascinating study in contrasts. On the one hand, you have Republican Beth Mizell who is running a campaign that is clearly meant to inspire. On the other, you have Mickey Murphy who has emerged as the poster boy for Louisiana good old boy politics and vile mud-slinging.
I’ve already noted the effectiveness of Mizell’s campaign ad in this previous post. Since then, the Mizell campaign has launched a new ad with her son Josh, who happens to be a military veteran.
You can see that ad below.
The previous ad beautifully showcased Mizell’s region and her deep appreciation for it. This latest ad featuring her veteran son shows a love of family, but also respect for our men and women in the armed forces.
By contrast, the Muphy campaign has been characterized by mud slinging and phony ethics allegations. A week ago Murphy filled charges against Mizell with the Louisiana Board of ethics. From the Bogalusa Daily News:
In a press release from the campaign, Murphy said that he received phone calls at his home on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from a state employee working for the Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation.
Murphy said that the state employee left another message asking “Beth” to call her because she had a “PAC check” for her. He also said that the state employee left, as a call back number, her official government number and official state mail address.
Murphy said the caller was obviously trying to reach Mizell, and not Murphy. Murphy filed an ethics complaint with the Ethics Board on Monday morning, arguing that state law prohibits public servants from using government resources for political campaign activity.
So someone (who isn’t Beth Mizell) made a phone call and left a message on Muphy’s voice mail. Murphy is filing ethics charges against Mizell. If that sounds idiotic well, that’s because it is. Mizell responded by pointing out the obvious:
“The call was between the woman and Mr. Murphy,” she said. “It had nothing to do with me. It was referring to a donation from the Republican Legislative Committee, which is legal. I accepted it, and reported it.
“Mr. Murphy, my counterpart, receives a similar check from the Democratic Legislative Committee. I don’t understand how there is any problem at all.
“I have no control over who calls who. She wasn’t returning my call, she was calling him, looking for me.”
Mizell also stated that Murphy was violating ethics rules by prematurely making the complaint public.
The charges are bogus of course, but this will not be proven until after the election is over. Murphy’s allegations have nothing to do with justice or ethics. They just give Murphy an excuse to spend the rest of the campaign talking about a “pending ethics case” against Mizell.
Because the system moves slow, Mizell will not be cleared of the bogus “ethics charges” until after the election is over. Pretty convenient for Murphy huh? See where I’m going with this?
The ridiculous ethics charges have become the source of a nasty radio ad that Murphy has released, which features the recorded phone message.
Murphy’s tactics are typically what we see from campaigns that are in big trouble. He started out with a clear disadvantage i this race, as Mizell picked up 44 percent of the vote in the primary.
He began the final stretch of this race with some serious catching up to do, and his present course of action is unlikely to achieve this. We’ve seen some crazy stuff in the current governor’s race, but Murphy’s half- baked ethics accusations sink to a whole new level of sleaze and dishonesty.
Hopefully the people of the 12th district will see through his lies and vote for the right candidate.
by
Chad E. Rogers
Publisher
Baton Rouge, La. — Tonight was the final debate between Rep. John Bel Edwards and Sen. David Vitter. It was likely the final time voters will have the opportunity to hear each of the candidates discuss the substantive issues before they head to the polls this Saturday.
Most notable from tonight’s debate was the fact the Edwards made several comments that directly contradict his legislative voting record. For instance, tonight he said that he intends to oppose tax increases, cut spending, look for efficiencies throughout government and undedicate many parts of the budget to make it easier to effectively use existing dollars.
While this would be a responsible approach, Rep. Edwards’ voting record clearly illustrates that he actually has a different political philosophy. In fact, last year he supported over $2 billion in higher taxes, including substantial increases on employer taxes for critical items such as electricity, inventory, debt, and research.
“Tonight, Rep. Edwards’ rhetoric on tax increases did not match his career voting record,” said Brian Landry, vice president of LABI Political Action. “He claimed he did not support tax increases last session, despite the fact he clearly helped raise them by at least $700 million. He also claimed he supports spending cuts and efficiencies, despite the fact he has vocally opposed them in the Legislature.”
“Campaign rhetoric can muddy up the waters, but voting records paint a clear picture of one’s true philosophy,” Landry said. “The voting records show that Sen. Vitter supports policies that rein in government spending, protect taxpayers, and create a strong and vibrant private sector economy. On the other hand, Rep. Edwards’ voting record clearly shows he favors bigger government, higher taxes and new mandates on employers.”
Last session’s tax increases are only a few of the many votes that contribute to Representative Edwards’ career LABI voting record of 29 percent. This career voting record is lower than the career voting record of Mary Landrieu, Mitch Landrieu and Kathleen Blanco. This fact, along with his 25 percent voting record for NFIB, are substantive and statistical reasons that employers across the state are concerned that he will liberally govern in the same way that he has legislated.
The voting records of both Rep. John Bel Edwards and Sen. David Vitter are attached to illustrate the clear distinction in the political philosophies of both candidates.
Sen. David Vitter
| 1992 | 100 |
| 1993 | 95 |
| 1994 | 88 |
| 1995 | 100 |
| 1996 | 89 |
| 1997 | 100 |
| 1998 | 83 |
| Lifetime LABI Score | 95% |
John Bel Edwards
| 2008 | 49 |
| 2009 | 38 |
| 2010 | 75 |
| 2011 | 13 |
| 2012 | 19 |
| 2013 | 67 |
| 2014 | 27 |
| 2015 | 26 |
| Lifetime LABI Score | 29% |
KEEP THIS GUY OUT OF HIS CAMPAIGN ADS!
So I learn today that Democratic Senate Candidate Mickey Murphy just launched an attack ad against Republican opponent Beth Mizelll. “Stupid” is the only word I can use to describe the commercial’s premise.
Basically, the Murphy camp says that electing Mizell (and David Vitter) will continue the mess made by the Jindal administration.
Anyone who understands Louisiana politics knows that Vitter and Jindal have always hated each other. A Vitter administration would be vastly different from what Jindal has done, and to suggest otherwise is just laughable.
But never mind that.
The real story about Murphy’s ad is that it doesn’t contain much Murphy. Sure, there’s a few still shots of the candidate, but never once does he speak.
Why is that? The answer lies in the video of a recent debate between Murphy and Mizell that took place at Bogalusa city hall.
I witnessed it in person.
Watching Murphy try to articulate coherent policy positions was downright painful. He came across as irritable, angry, and bullying. He seemed defensive when talking about his Democratic party label.
It is hard for me to believe that anyone can watch the debate and still take Mickey Murphy seriously as a candidate. The debate was a clear victory for Mizell and a disaster for Murphy.
After the debate debacle, the people running his campaign probably figured out that putting him in front of a camera and letting him speak is a very bad idea (unless it’s to scream at the camera in a mindless tirade).
The entire debate is below.
Senate District 12 Debate 11102015 from Mt. Hermon Web-TV on Vimeo.
Since day one, Murphy’s campaign has been characterized by anger, self-aggrandizement and paranoia directed at an ill-defined boogeyman called “the special interests.”
As we noted before, Mizell’s ad has demonstrated an appreciation and understanding of the community in which has spent her life.
Mizell’s ad is below.
