Louisiana

Last week we posted on the toolkit that the Family Research Council was distributing to its members urging them to organize town hall events in opposition to healthcare reform in their local churches.

Well, it looks like this effort has gotten off to a fast start, thanks to Sen. David Vitter, who recently participated in one of these events which was organized by and featured FRC President Tony Perkins:

On his Facebook page, David Vitter just thanked Family Research Council President and former Louisiana legislator Tony Perkins for hosting a Vitter event in a church last night.

"Last night I participated in a community wide town hall in Greenwell Springs to discuss health care reform. Was a great meeting. Special thanks to Tony Perkins and a group of local churches who partnered together to host a panel discussion on health… care, allowing over 800 in attendance to participate in this important topic."

Several videos from the event have now appeared on YouTube and they show the event to be every bit as enlightening as we would expect.

Right off the bat, after Sen. Vitter thanks "Tony," he says that he is particularly delighted to finally participate in a church-based discussion about healthcare and hopes to have several more such faith-based discussions around the state.

Then came questions from the audience about the entire effort just being a power-grab by Obama, as well as questions about abortion and conscience protections.  At no point did Vitter try to correct the audience's misunderstandings and, instead, worked to reinforce them.

Then came this fascinating statement from an audience member in which he claimed that Vladimir Putin had recently written a column for Pravda urging President Obama not to try Marxism because it doesn't work before declaring that he was one of those uninsured that politicians keep talking about, but that he was uninsured by choice.  It seems that the audience member doesn't trust medicine and doesn't see a need for it and that what is really needed is to "get Americans weaned off of the medical care system all together" ... at which point the audience bursts into applause before the speaker goes on the cite a doctor in New Orleans who has been able to cure every cancer patient he has seen in the last twenty years in just three weeks by simply using Vitamin C:

This final video starts out with an attack on Van Jones, which is reinforced by Sen. Vitter who says that all of Obama's czars are unconstitutional. The next question is about the past writings of Obama's science adviser John Holdren, which has been a topic of right-wing outrage for several weeks now. Around the 4:00 mark of this video, Perkins' voice pops up in response to the Holdren question where he decries the "influence of authors who put these crazy ideas out there and are embraced by liberal politicians" and saying that he has "no dobut" that healthcare reform would lead to forced sterilization:

There have been several articles speculating, as far back as last year, that the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins might be considering a challenge to Louisiana Senator David Vitter stemming, in large part, from Vitter's ties to a prostitution ring.  

As such, as he looks ahead to his re-election campaign, Vitter has been working hard to seal off his right flank from any potential challenge, such as Perkins, by unleashing a flurry of legislation aimed at establishing himself as one of the Religious Right’s most committed and vocal allies on Capitol Hill.

But it looks like it might not be enough, because Politico has gotten Perkins to go on the record for the first time about his interest in possibly challenging Vitter ... and while Perkins is non-committal at the moment, he certainly sounds like someone who senses an opportunity:

Perkins tells POLITICO he just might [present a serious challenge for Vitter].

“I will say this: I have people in Louisiana encouraging me to consider it,” said Perkins, a former Louisiana legislator who joined the FRC after losing to Vitter in the 2002 Senate primary.

When Vitter’s name turned up in the phone book of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey in 2007, Perkins said “there’s room to make a mistake and come back” — and said that even he’d vote for his friend Vitter again if Vitter could show that he had “moved on” from the scandal.

Two years later, however, Perkins says it’s still a problem for Vitter.

“I don’t think he needs to say anything else about it, but I don’t think he can do anything else about it,” Perkins said. “Can people feel a sense of trust in him to publicly stand with him and support him and help him? Maybe he has [gotten to that point]. I know I still get some questions. I think he is certainly vulnerable [to] a challenge from the right — a candidate without issues.”

While Perkins is not generally known for making the sorts of outrageous statements that plague many of his Religious Right allies, if he thinks that he’d be a “candidate without issues,” he is sorely mistaken.

For its part, the National Republican Senatorial Committee says it'll be supporting Vitter in his re-election bid, but Perkins seems to sense that he just might be able to suck up enough of the right-wing vote in the primary to knock Vitter off:   

Having spent the past five years at the vanguard of the social conservative movement, Perkins could stand between Vitter and the conservative base he needs.

Perkins wouldn’t say for certain whether he’ll enter the race. He said he could decide to stay out of it for the sake of his family.

At the same time, however, he said: “Politically, it may be an advantageous time for me to run.”

The Times-Picayune reports that Sen. David Vitter opened the first day of the 111th Congress by unleashing a flurry of bills designed to endear himself to the Religious Right, on whom he is counting for support when he runs for re-election next year:

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has unleashed an onslaught of legislation, filing 34 bills and resolutions, on the first day of the 111th Congress that convened Tuesday.

Beyond making plain his intention to seek re-election in 2010, Vitter's opening-day volley also amounts to a political manifesto, staking unambiguous claim to issues dear to Christian conservatives -- abortion, public prayer, stem cell research, home schooling, drugs, the death penalty, illegal immigration and protecting the American flag -- with a thoroughness that leaves little room for any challenge on those issues from the right.

It'll be interesting to see how right-wing leaders respond this obvious attempt to woo them, considering that Vitter was linked to a prostitution ring back in 2007.  Knowing them, they have never been much for holding one of their ally's obvious hypocrisy against them when it comes to making political calculations and will probably rally to his defense as he seeks to maintain his seat in the Senate during the next election.

The Times-Picayune reports that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is heading to Texas for some "private events" that will raise a little money for his re-election bid:

As Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to draw attention as a rising star and possible national candidate for Republicans in 2012 or 2016, he insists that he has the job he wants right here in Louisiana. But that doesn't mean he won't leave the state to raise a little cash for his campaign account.

His next such trip starts today, with plans for a fundraiser tonight in San Antonio and Friday afternoon in Houston.

The fundraisers were described in his official schedule only as "private events" for Jindal's re-election campaign. Melissa Sellers, Jindal's communications director, declined to share more information about where the events would be, who is hosting and how much is being sought from potential donors.

Since he won't say who he'll be hobnobbing with, I feel it is worth pointing out that the last few times Republican presidential hopefuls ended up traveling to Texas to raise some cash and support, we ended up seeing Mike Hucakbee hanging out with a guy who believed that "all disease and disability is caused by the sin of Adam and Eve" and John McCain ended up winning the endorsement of John Hagee, whom he then had to publicly humiliate before the end-times enthusiast could do any more damage to his campaign.

But while Jindal doesn't want to say who he'll be schmoozing with in Texas, he is apparently less than reluctant to be seen with the likes of David Vitter:

Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter has lined up a hefty list of Louisiana’s current and former members of Congress to help him with a fundraiser next week.

Headlining the Washington, D.C., fundraiser is Gov. Bobby Jindal. Listed as co-chairs of the event — called “Mardi Gras in December” — are all the Republican members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation and six former GOP congressmen from Louisiana.

...

The list of support for Vitter’s 2010 re-election bid could help Vitter toss aside speculation that the senator may have trouble maintaining support from GOP leaders after his involvement in an escort service scandal.

So Jindal will gladly be seen with a "family values" congressman caught frequenting prostitutes but won't say who he'll be meeting with in Texas? Does that seem odd to anyone else?