Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer’s long-shot bid for the White House came to an ignominious end Thursday night when Americans Elect, the bipartisan group that hoped to field a serious third-party candidate on ballots in all 50 states this fall, announced it was throwing in the proverbial towel.
Americans Elect tried — and failed spectacularly — to mount a decidedly 21st century campaign: use an on-line nominating process in which contenders for the ticket would be nominated based on clicks. Roemer fared the best among the field of declared candidates, garnering nearly 6,300 clicks. Unfortunately that’s 3,700 short of the 10,000 threshold the group required for nominating a presidential candidate.
Roemer initially tried to run as a Republican but failed to get any traction with the party. His central message — that the huge sums of corporate and millionaire money flowing into the electoral process has a corrupting influence on American politics — never seemed to resonate with a party built on huge sums of corporate and millionaire money. He was unable to generate enough support within the GOP to participate in any of the debates hosted over the last several months and turned to Americans Elect early this spring.
Backed by some big-money donors, virtually all of whom were anonymous, AE hoped to offer a centrist alternative to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. But, despite polls suggesting Americans are hungry for an alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties, Americans Elect failed to ignite sufficient interest. “As of this week, no candidate achieved the national support threshold required to enter the Americans Elect online convention in June,” the group announced in a statement released Thursday night. “The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end.”
Read more here.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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