Friday, March 23, 2007

Let the good times begin

Louisiana's 2007 gunernatorial campaign just took on the twist of all twists. Friday, John Breaux declared he will be a candidate for Govenor if state Attorney General Charles Foti (a fellow Democrat) delivers a favorable opinion. Rep. Eric LeFleur, D-Ville Platte, chairman of the Democratic Legislative Caucus will ask for the legal opinion from Foti since, as a private citizen, Breaux does not have the necessary standing to request such a ruling. Foti's opinion will be just that, an opinion, and does not carry legal weight.
To say challenges will be filed is as obvious as Cajuns loving crawfish.
Republicans have been running ads attacking Breaux since his name surfaced as a potential candidate after Gov. Kathleen Blanco's numbers continued to languish in the Louisiana loo. Those ads will now be considered gentle compared to what will surely come. Also, watch for columns, ads and gutter talk to begin centering on Foti and his connection to Breaux through the same political party. Heck...the popular Foti may even draw a little opposition if he rules in favor of Breaux.
Sometimes the fun in reading what candidates and assorted politicos have to say is reading between the lines. According to the story in the Times Picayune, Breaux said one of the reasons he's decided to run if the AG says it's OK is, "(Republicans) have encouraged me to be a candidateā€ by running the attack ads which have not only challenged Breaux but his son. It doesn't take much imagination to read a not-so subliminal challenge into that statement. What Breaux is really saying, in our opinion, is, "OK, Bobby and Louisiana Republicans, you want a fight, you got it."
It might be wise for those who've had a tad of nasty fun at Breaux's expense to check their kevlar. As a student of politics and political battles, Breaux has had some very good teachers. Sometimes the danger of firing the first shot is, those who do the firing make the assumption they own the only gun in the fight.
Let the good times roll.

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