Welcome to A Fair Fight Blog
The purpose of this blog is to serve as a rapid response mechanism and media monitor in the race for Governor of Louisiana. The attacks against Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal, coming from multiple directions, have already begun and will likely escalate. When attacks occur, this blog will analyze, deconstruct, and critique them, point out errors, illogic, and unfairness, and show how and why the attacks say more about those who wage them than they do about their intended target. The people of Louisiana deserve better than to have a Governor's race determined by unfair attacks left unchecked.
Likewise, it is right and proper that candidates for Governor be given close scrutiny and asked tough questions, by the media and by voters, but not just in one direction. One recurring question this blog will raise is whether the scrutiny of every candidate is equally close, the questions equally tough.
It's unfortunate to have to refer to a political campaign as a "fight," but a fight is what the attackers have already signaled they seek. This blog simply asks if politics should be at least as civil as a boxing match, and as the referee says: "I want a clean and fair fight. Now shake hands, return to your corners, and at the sound of the bell come out swinging. And let the best man win."
Right now Bobby Jindal is basking in the glow of history, and he owes it all to the ray of hope that the people of Louisiana have shined on him. Amassing more votes on the first ballot of an open election than anyone has before, winning by a 35-point margin on a ballot with 12 candidates, is a monumental achievement, no question about it. The mandate for change that the Louisiana people have empowered Bobby Jindal to pursue is unmistakable and uplifting.
-- Posted on October 21st, 2007 at 4:59 PM by Michael.
In case you missed it, yesterday in The Times-Picayune columnist Stephanie Grace came out with her primary wrap-up, looking back and bestowing her campaign season superlatives, henceforth to be referred to here as the “Gracies.”
The envelope please…. And, in the category of Most Entertaining Use of the Internet, the Gracie goes to:
The state Republican Party’s georgesgonewild.com site, which features pictures of a bare-chested Georges culled from the candidate’s own Web site.
Well, I’m simply touched, and overwhelmed with emotion, and eternally grateful. So, on behalf of all of us who brought georgesgonewild.com into being, and while there are so many folks we’d like to thank, we extend our greatest thanks to the person without whom none of this success would have been possible. And that wonderful person is, of course, John Georges himself. We literally owe it all to him. And to his own unique brand of devil-may-care zaniness. And to his complete absence of modesty.
Speaking of which, Georges himself comes in for a pair of Gracie awards:
Biggest tent: That belonged to Republican-turned-independent John Georges, who, blocked by Jindal on the right, switched gears and staked millions of dollars on traditionally Democratic African-American voters. A banner ad on the Internet summed up his all-things-to-all-people approach. “No party?” it asks. “No problem.”
Biggest ego: This award also goes to Georges, who accused policy wonk Jindal, a man who’s been running for governor for a good five or six years now, of stealing his ideas, his words and even his use of the entirely unoriginal term “plan” to describe his platform.
Way to go, John!
Finally, we thank all our fans and, of course, the judges, particularly the one whose name graces the award itself and graces the award-announcement column too, which you really should read in full, and find the rest of the “winners,” here.
-- Posted on October 19th, 2007 at 2:05 PM by Michael.
As we approach the final debate before election day, I thought I’d provide a handy dandy “special edition” guide to viewers on what to expect.
First, expect to see John Georges’ head explode. OK, that’s figuratively speaking. More seriously, Georges has promised to confront Jindal over non-existent “lies” about Georges’ gambling business. The head explosion should occur at the precise moment when Georges’ attacks are undermined by his own inability to explain his own lies about his own lies about his own other lies about his continuing gambling ties. I hope somebody brings a mop. Won’t be pretty.
Second, expect to see one or all of Jindal’s opponents try to make a virtue of their own failure to convince donors to help their campaigns, by alleging phantom nefarious motives behind Jindal’s 19,000 financial supporters.
Third, whatever the attacks, expect Jindal to stay focused on delivering his message, vision, and detailed plans on the issues facing Louisiana.
However, and last but not least, while Jindal will likely brush off minor snarky comments, also expect him to hit back appropriately if attacked in an extreme manner. This may entail asking for permission to respond or doing so at the start of his next turn to talk.
Important notice to reporters covering the debate: This is common practice in debates. If Bobby Jindal does hit back in this manner, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s been “knocked off script” or that he’s been “shaken” or that he’s “avoiding the question at hand” or even that the “usually unflappable” Jindal has been, uh, flapped. It just means Jindal took normal debate steps to thwart severe mischaracterizations of his record.
Thanks, and happy viewing.
-- Posted on October 18th, 2007 at 5:30 PM by Michael.
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