Organizers of a proposed U.S. Senate debate on the campus of UL Lafayette are hopeful to put the event on next month, but say that right now it's all up to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter.
Associate UL political science professor Ryan Teten says he is in almost weekly contact with the Vitter camp, which has informed him that they are still weighing several options regarding debates right now. Vitter's main Senate challenger, Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon, has challenged Vitter to five televised debates, including the one at UL. Thus far, Vitter has only agreed to one of those forums — to be held Thursday, Oct. 28 in New Orleans, less than a week before the election, and broadcast by WWL-TV. Vitter has signed on to several Tea Party-sponsored forums, which Melancon has rejected, noting the events have a conservative bias and often pre-screened questions.
The proposed UL debate would take place at UL's Angelle Hall on one of two proposed dates: Monday, Oct. 18 or Wednesday, Oct. 27. It would be broadcast by KATC and likely moderated by anchor Hoyt Harris, who would relay questions from the public submitted through the station or the live audience.
"I can't see a lot of downside to it," Teten says before noting that incumbents polling ahead in a race, like Vitter, will often play it safe by limiting their debate appearances. Teten helped put on a similar debate at UL between Congressman Charles Boustany and his challenger, state Sen. Don Cravins Jr., in 2008. The UL professor adds that two or three other third party Senate candidates may be invited to attend as well, but not until both Vitter and Melancon have signed on. "Obviously," Teten says, "from Melancon's side, he's all for it and his camp is trying to make it happen and KATC is going to broadcast it live and they're trying to make it happen. But right now it all hinges on Vitter."
MAY 24 Blogger Robert Mann posts this entry about the Baton Rouge Chamber's recent report on Louisiana's higher education system. It's critical to economic development, and yet our system is facing a "funding crisis" with no way to resolve it, the report says. The Chamber says control of tuition and fees must be returned to the higher ed governing boards.
MAY 24 Here's a NBC33 story about Tyrann Mathieu. He has signed with the Arizona Cardinals, inking a $3 million, four-year deal. He gets a signing bonus of $265K, but gets another, larger bonus if he doesn't get cut from the team for doing drugs. The deal reportedly includes mandatory tests and meetings for the player.
MAY 24 Jarvis DeBerry posts here about the redonkulus rhetoric that would have us believe NOLA is a safe city with a murder problem. Maybe the city's crime stats don't compare with its murder stats because you can't manipulate a murder, he says: a dead body's a dead body. It just doesn't make sense, he says, and his readers agree: a poll asks if they believe the city is safe, and more than 90 percent say no.
MAY 24 Jindal administration officials announced Thursday that the privatization of public health care is going to cost a lot more than they budgeted for, the Advocate reports here. "I'm so surprised," said no one. Anywhere. The cost they're projecting now is more than $1 billion - a lot more than the $626 million budgeted for it. And, it's more than it cost the state to operate those hospitals. So why are we doing this again?
MAY 24 Blogger CB Forgotston ridicules the recent PR campaign by the state GOP in the wake of a legislative auditor's request to both major parties. The GOP (apparently unaware that the Dems got the same request) started yammering about being targeted because it had "killed" a tax increase. CB finds that laughable, but it's also pretty funny that the GOP was comparing this episode to the IRS scandal (Because the President has so much to do with our state auditor. Right?).
MAY 24 Politico details some recent fund-raising efforts by Sen. David Vitter, which have raised the question of his future political plans. This time, it is a $5,000 per head "bayou weekend" that includes "Cajun cooking" and an all-caps "alligator hunt," the story reports. Funds raised go to a super PAC that can spend money to support Vitter in federal or state races, the story points out.
MAY 24 The pink building on Royal in the quarter was sold at a sheriff's sale Thursday, this Picayune story reports. An injunction that would have halted the sale wasn't enforced because the family failed to post a $150,000 bond, the story reports. So the owner of the mortgages on the building bought it, for nearly $7 million. Now the feuding family will have to negotiate with that company to get a lease on the building that has housed their business for close to 60 years.
MAY 23 This post in Louisiana Voice tells us about a bill by a Winnsboro lege that would require all public high school students to take at least one Course Choice online class in order to graduate. (What?) Blogger Tom Aswell says it's a monument to "waste and corruption," especially in light of the problems he's exposed with the program in recent weeks. Idaho had a similar program, but voters removed it by a 2-1 margin, Aswell says.
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Uhhh....well, I can't see alot of upside to it, either. If I was Vitter's campaign manager, what I would do is lock his ass up in a closet with nothing to do but memorize his victory speech.
He's got it won right now. All he has to do is not mess this up. Every word he speaks, every reporter he talks to, is an opportunity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. He's a fool if he debates.