I see on my cell phone that the mayor who fiddled while New Orleans drowned has been re-elected. Sheesh. Welcome to America, where criminal incompetence is OK, being responsible for hundreds of deaths is no big deal, and the race card trumps reason.
UPDATE: Welcome, InstaPundit readers. I apologize for the lack of detail in my analysis on this post. I was posting via cell-phone because I didn’t have Internet access last night, as explained here.
My reasons for believing that Ray Nagin was an unforgivably bad choice for mayor are explained in detail here, with lots of links to previous relevant posts (many of them written contemporaneously as the storm approached).
It isn’t that I think Landrieu was necessarily a great alternative, or that Nagin’s plan for the future is awful. I don’t know much about either of those points, but I don’t care: Nagin’s past failures are so horrible that, if accountability means anything at all, re-electing him should not have been an option… PERIOD. You cannot screw up as badly as Nagin did, and be re-elected. You just can’t. Hence the title of this post.
And yes, that logic can be applied to President Bush too, if you think President Bush screwed up badly enough. That’s a debatable issue, IMHO — but, as matter of fact, one of the reasons I reluctantly voted for Kerry was because I don’t believe it was acceptable to re-elect the president whose administration screwed up the pre-war intelligence in Iraq (even though I still support the war). However, while the question of how badly Bush screwed up is debatable, I don’t believe Nagin’s overwhelming incompetence in the run-up to Hurricane Katrina is remotely debatable. Again, I explained why here.
As for those who object to my mention of the “race card”… who even have the audacity to suggest that I am being racist by pointing out the obvious… give me a freakin’ break. Blacks voted roughly 80% to 20% for Nagin, and whites voted roughly 80% to 20% for Landrieu, right? Those statistics make it obvious that race was a key deciding factor in this race. It was a key deciding factor in the April election, too…. if not for the race card, there might have been two entirely different candidates in the runoff. Nagin got 38% of the vote in the original election largely because many, many blacks felt that he was the only candidate who would represent “them”… an impression that he deliberately fostered with his “Chocolate City” comments and such. Anyway, it’s absurd to deny the overwhelming role of race in establishing the parameters of this race. And given that re-electing the mayor who fiddled while New Orleans drowned obviously flies in the face of reason, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say that “the race card trumped reason” in this election. I would say the exact same thing if an incompetent white mayor was re-elected because white voters favored him overwhemingly over his black opponent. Duh.
All that said, I genuinely hope Mayor Nagin does a good job from this point forward. Obviously, a great deal depends on him, and I’ll be rooting for him. Perhaps his clear-as-day incompetence and unforgivable failures in the days before Katrina hit will prove to have been an isolated incident, and he’ll end up doing a great job leading New Orleans over the next four years. If so, awesome. It won’t change my opinion that he never should have been re-elected; it is simply unacceptable to give a stamp of approval to an elected official who screwed up as badly as Nagin did. But that doesn’t mean I’m hoping he’ll fail. Whether he succeeds or fails from this point forward has no bearing on my unalterable opinion that his re-election was a mistake (because I believe accountability should matter), but it has a great dael of bearing on the future of New Orleans, so I’ll be rooting for him.
May 21st, 2006 at 1:32:40 am
Hey, New Orleans: the next time nobody answers the door it’s us not answering.
Signed, Houston.
May 21st, 2006 at 1:43:33 am
Tell me something about his opponent or shut up. Was he a better opponent? Shouldn’t Joe be accountable for the incorrect decision to invade Iraq?
May 21st, 2006 at 3:05:20 am
“Shouldn’t Joe be accountable for the incorrect decision to invade Iraq?
May 21st, 2006 at 3:05:50 am
Gah, sorry, typo in the attemp to close that tag.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:15:29 am
The attempted question is: what on Earth is that quoted question supposed to mean? Are you refering to Joe, Brendan’s father, who’s been running a lot of the updates on the election? Or maybe Joe Lieberman? Or perhaps just a regular Joe on the street? In any case, how is any Joe’s responsibility or lack thereof on the invasion of Iraw at all relevant to the issue of Nagin having no idea what he was doing during the most important event of his term as mayor? I think it’s pretty clear that at this point, Brendan would have favored the election of a sock puppet over Nagin, so the issue of Landrieu’s qualifications is rather moot–the qualification of “is not responsible for the deaths of some New Orleans residents and the needless endangering of many, many more within the past year” puts him ahead of Nagin.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:24:21 am
Frankly, I figured Nagin would win.
Hell, if D.C. re-elects a mayor after smoking crack, how can I believe that this clown doesn’t get a second go-round.
Good luck, NO. You’ll need it.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:35:18 am
and the race card trumps again.
Typical white male response when a black candidate defeats a white candidate and the population of the area is primarily black. Somehow Brendan, you and many others can’t seem to believe that blacks can make informed decisions about candidates who represent them. While you can certainly oppose their judgment based on your (presumably non-racial and unbiased) view of the merits of the candidates (ie. it is fair to choose to blame Nagin for much of the misery following the hurricane), however, adding the race issue makes you look small. (see, eg. Harry Reid).
May 21st, 2006 at 9:25:48 am
Y’all seem so positive that Landrieu would be ‘better’. He’s better at ‘grippin & grinnin’, and spinnin. He should be - it’s the family business. And he’s never really done anything else. Don’t forget he was the Lt. Governor during Katrina, and the state didn’t exactly shower itself in glory either. Lt. Gov. is not a job that has any ‘authority’ but during such a crisis he could have injected some ideas and leadership, if he had any, and forced the authorities to smack him down.
Second point: despite Nagin’s ‘chocolate city’ comment last fall and typical audience pandering, this was the least racist election I think this city has ever had. Both candidates had substantial support from white and black leaders and voters.
I do agree with you that Nagin’s election will greatly slow down the national gravy train, but that train has been on the wrong track most of the time anyway. National sympathy has been gone for a while (I think the country only has about a six month attention span for anything.)
May 21st, 2006 at 9:50:45 am
Nagin took a chapter from Bush. He played on people’s fears. You wan’t a New Orleans that is taken over by white developers from the North, vote Landrieu. You want a New Orleans as it was before, vote Nagin.
Of course, Nagin isn’t going to actually deliver on that. I imagine four years from now the 9th Ward will still be filled with mostly empty, rotted timber. But, what can you do?
May 21st, 2006 at 9:55:01 am
ken,
Typical white male response when a black candidate defeats a white candidate and the population of the area is primarily black.
No, typical white male response to African-Americans systemically refusing to hold African-American leaders accountable even after catastrophic failure. It really doesn’t matter who Nagins opponent was it was time to clean house in New Orleans. Failure on that scale requires removal from office and replacement with a stuffed duck if necessary.
African-American politicians routinely survive scandals that would doom the careers other politicians because African-American voters seem more concerned with racial solidarity than they do integrity and competence in their government. African-Americans are recapitulating the corrupt racist voting patterns of the old south and the of the ethnic party machines of the northwestern cities. In both cases, voters let ties of race, ethnicity and religion take precedence over integrity and competence and it cost them dearly in the long run.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:56:57 am
A few thoughts:
I’d leave it to smarter scientists such as Mike or Scientizzle, but a 52-48 outcome in such a small sample (of a larger population) feels statistically insignificant. Had Landrieu won 52-48, would you have been impressed with the intelligence of residents of NOLA? By the principles of statistics, its the same brain base in either case.
I’d leave it to smarter election officials such as Joe Loy, but when a small sample from a larger population votes, usually the winner is a function of which side energizes its supporters to come vote.
So what of the energized base to vote for Nagin? Is it race? Or is he the good time incumbent? Is New Orleans -
We’re here for a good time, not a long time, so have a good time, the sun can’t shine every day…and every year, will have a bit of fear, every now and then its gonna rain…?
(Honey? Honey? Can you get out our checkbook and write a big old tax check for the continued partyin’, devil-may-care good time in Mardi Gras town? Great.)
May 21st, 2006 at 10:23:48 am
Based on the percentages, there is no way Nagin would have won without significant support from white voters…
“Early results from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office showed Nagin carrying majority black precincts and Landrieu winning in majority white ones, which was expected. But Nagin was pulling a significant crossover vote in some heavily populated predominantly white precincts in Uptown New Orleans, a good sign for the incumbent.”
…Are the white people who voted for Nagin racist? Frankly, I think the people on this thread are playing “the race card.”
I’m no Nagin fan, but I think Nagin’s victory has more to do with the “he may be an asshole, but he is our asshole” mindset.
The national media have been extremely critical of the post-Katrina situation in New Orleans, as it should be. But it seems to me this, and Feds’ slow response, have created a rallying cry around Nagin.
Are there some blacks who have been more inclined to vote for Nagin because he is black? Sure. Are there some whites who have been more inclined to condemn Nagin because he is black? Absolutely. In the end, though, political dynamics of the situation are playing a greater role than race.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:46:21 am
It’s American’s philosophy at present…
Re-elect incompetence.
Doesn’t surprise me one bit…
May 21st, 2006 at 10:46:42 am
[…] The Irish Trojan’s Blog: Welcome to America, where criminal incompetence is OK, being responsible for hundreds of deaths is no big deal, and the race card trumps reason. Filed under: Politics Comments: […]
May 21st, 2006 at 10:47:43 am
I’m with Mad Max on this one, especially the “he may be an asshole but he’s our asshole” theory. Attack, and the wagons circle. But I do hope we can now stop pouring money into that particular rat hole.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:52:48 am
By political dynamics, do you mean ballot box stuffing? To think that the NO election was not crooked is laughable.
P.S. Can NO take back thier filthy murdering scum from Texas now?
May 21st, 2006 at 10:57:28 am
“By political dynamics, do you mean ballot box stuffing?”
Considering that most of the old school Louisiana political machine was behind Landrieu and the fact Nagin has demonstrated his inability to pull anything off, not sure how that would fly.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:58:29 am
Joel-
Also, the filthy scum from NO that moved to Houston is there to stay. You should make your discontent heard by voting out Perry, if he is running for re-election.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:30:57 am
Joel,
A lot of our filthy murderous scum is back. Along with plenty other opportunistic scum. They prey on the weak and vulnerable, and that’s us.
Also, Katrina really disrupted the traditional (corrupt) political machines; the general election was surprisingly ‘clean’, though I haven’t talked to any poll workers yet on the runoff.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:44:11 am
New Orleans Makes a Choice
New Orleans has re-elected Ray “New Orleans Will Be Chocolate” Nagin. He of the Ray Nagin Memorial Motor Pool is back in office. He who bought a home in Dallas rather than stay in New Orleans, or even Louisiana, to assist in the rebuilding efforts (b…
May 21st, 2006 at 11:52:36 am
I have never understood why voters who, you assume, would have had contact with the cable company’s customer service, would elect the head of the cable company to be mayor. That takes an optimism or obliviousness that’s breathtaking. Of course when the only other choice is the son and heir of the embodiment of machine politics in NOLA, maybe not.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:53:16 am
Good, 4 more years for an honest mayor. The rest of the country would be lucky to have Nagin.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:53:38 am
The more I think about “the race card” comment, the more pissed off I get. So I assume Brendan thinks all black people are stupid if they vote for an incompetent black guy? What does that make all of the white people who still support Bush, who has proven himself just as incompetent? Is Bush playing a “white” race card?
Going back to the OJ case, everyone assumes there was Jury nullification because a mostly black jury acquitted him. What about the horrendously bad Prosecution? Did the Prosecution ever ask to have the laughably permissive Lance Ito pulled off the case? Why did the Prosecution not contest the make-up of the jury during the selection process? Why didn’t the Prosecution argue that the “n-gger” question aimed at Mark Fuhrman was inflamatory given the make-up of the jury? And what genius came up with the idea of making OJ try on the glove when it was a no-brainer the guy was going to act like it didn’t fit?
Maybe Landrieu just sucked as a candidate. I guess as a white guy that would be impossible, but maybe it is true.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:02:10 pm
The “race card” comment is very apt. It was Nagin himself who played the card with his “chocolate city” comment.
Hey, this is going to be a generalization here, but the majority of blacks do make an informed decision about their candidates. And the only information they care about: 1) Is he black? 2) Is he a democrat?
You simply cannot deny that. It is an absolute fact. I’m sorry if that makes some people uncomfortable or angry.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:02:22 pm
First let me confirm for contrarian and Mike, #2 and #5 above, that Yes, I am the filthy scum who is accountable for the incorrect decision to invade Iraq. ;>
Secondly, re the Race card trumping Reason, the Reason that Ray won is that while he got only about 8% of the White vote in the April 22 primary, he pulled an estimated 20% of it this time. Given the Givens, that’s Substantial. And that “crossover” vote ~ presumably from Primary supporters of Republican Rob Couhig (who endorsed Nagin) and (perhaps to a lesser extent) Democrat Ron Forman (who endorsed Landrieu) ~ accounts for the Mayor’s victory margin in the Runoff. / Nagin’s caucasian supporters yesterday evidently saw him, correctly: (a) as more Conservative & Business-friendly than Mitch Landrieu [which btw is also how Ray got elected to his first term, as the “white candidate” :> with overwhelming support from white voters and relatively little from black voters who preferred the culturally “blacker” black candidate]; AND (b) as more trustworthy than Landrieu, whose highborn political clan is (as implied by Mad Max Esq above) associated with the sort of Corruption & Scandal which have, in fact, been notably Absent from the Nagin administration. [Note to Joel Mackey: by all accounts this NOLA primary & election were very well-run and totally Clean ~ thanks, I might add, to the herculean efforts of Secretary of State Al Ater & his heroic staff, who pulled off a virtual Miracle in contriving to so conduct this voting under these ridiculous & unprecedented circumstances.]
To complete the Race-card analysis: as in the Primary, Landrieu received a significant share of the votes of African-Americans in the Election yesterday. His racial “crossover” vote may have been roughly 20%, like Nagin’s the Other way. (However, Landrieu failed to Expand his black-precincts showing from the primary, and may in fact have Slipped some.)
All in all: it wasn’t Entirely a Race-card election.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:28:37 pm
“Hey, this is going to be a generalization here, but the majority of blacks do make an informed decision about their candidates. And the only information they care about: 1) Is he black? 2) Is he a democrat?”
So do you believe that most white men is Southern states vote for a candidate because he is 1) white and 2) a Republican?
May 21st, 2006 at 12:41:01 pm
As for the “race card trumps reason,” I guess it comes down to what your “reasons” are.
May 21st, 2006 at 1:13:09 pm
I love all the comments about “not throwing any more money down that rat hole”. I love how if the people of New Orleans don’t vote the way you want them to then somehow that should resolve the responsibilty of the Corp of Engineers/fed forfailure to design levees that would acutally hold. And before anyone says that is not true Gen. Strock has admitted before congress that is was significant design failures that lead to the breeches in New Orleans qwhich lead to where we are today. The people of New Orleans are not asking for anything not due to them. If it was some big oil co. that had built the levees then I’m sure you would be singing a different tune. I agree that Nagin should have been kicked out of office but that should have happenedduring the primary. With the choice the people of N.O. had during the runoff many whites went with Nagin b/c of the general distrust of the Landrieu’s here. Nothing can be done about it now so we just have to make the best of it.
PS..when the big one hits San Fran what would you think if most of the people in the country said they deserved it for building there and that maybe that deserved it b/c of all the homosexuality, ect and that it shouldn’t be rebuilt. I would be willing to bet that would not be the case so why is it so differnt for the people down here? Is it b/c they are predominately black and poor? Or is there some other reason why people suddently care about where and how much money gets spent by the fed govt? I don’t see any of your spendthrift senators getting kicked out of office so before you act like you care about money then vote some of them out and then I’ll believe that reason.
May 21st, 2006 at 1:20:15 pm
“Of course when the only other choice is the son and heir of the embodiment of machine politics in NOLA, maybe not.”
I think that’s the important thing here. N.O. may have suffered under Nagin’s leadership during Katrina, but it was the decades of corrupt machine politics and the corrupt political culture, pushed by political groups such as the Landrieus, that got N.O. into the terrible shape it was in to meet Katrina in the first place. I’m not impressed with Ray Nagin’s handling of the Katrina crisis, and if there had been a genuinely better candidate I would have hoped he/she would win. A Landrieu is not a genuinely better candidate just because he did not happen to be in charge of the city when Katrina hit.
The Landrieu clan has been mucking up one part or another of Louisiana for decades, preceding my birth in N.O. more than 30 years ago. The Landrieus are too much a part of the problem in N.O. to ever be part of the solution, IMHO. Ray Nagin fell down on the job when it came to evacuating the city, God knows…but the Landrieus are an integral part of the culture that created levees that couldn’t protect the city and that kept the city from growing and developing into a functional urban center. This wasn’t quite as horrific a non-choice as the Edwin “Crook” Edwards/David Duke race, but I’m definitely getting flashbacks of that. What does N.O. really need? An “outsider,” like a Phil Bredesen, who can really try to start running N.O. like a real city. Nagin isn’t going to be able to do that, but Landrieu DEFINITELY isn’t going to be able to do that.
Can you blame New Orelanians for not having chosen more wisely in the primaries? Most definitely. But, faced with the choice of a electing a mayor who responded poorly to a crisis versus electing one part of a machine responsible for much of the root causes of the crisis in the first place, I think I’d have to go with the former as well, and I’m so pale white that I scare vampires. Sure, race was a factor here, but if you think it was the only factor, you don’t know Louisiana politics very well.
May 21st, 2006 at 1:31:50 pm
Mad MAx makes some interesting comments.Some tell more about him than anything else.Yes,blacks do vote Democratic almost as a reflex.But there are many reasons.First,inertia.And remember,”Trust in inertia, Archie.It’s the most powerful force in the universe.” From the first Nero Wolfe story.There was a legitimate civil rights struggle between blacks and whites and among the Democratic party(Southern senators vs the national party).I think the majority of the credit ,an the national level belongs to the Democrats.
Secondly,gov’t jobs are a very important source of employment to the black community.Replacing Mayor NAgin would likely cause some of these jobs to be switched.
Finally,black candidates are much more likely to support preferential programs//set asides for blacks than non blacks.(Probably,these are endangered ,but still valuble in the short run.
There seems to be no doubt Mr. Nagin was overwhelmed by the job.But,people probably don’t expect another crisis,so why shuld competence matter.(It’s not as if we ever had a WW II for instance)
Now,for Maxie’s comments on GWB’s suppporters as an indication of stupidity.It strikes me as more whiny than substantive.First.Pres. Bush isn’t up for re-election so support,via clapping at a speech,on a TV interview is a lot less concrete thanneeded for an actual vote.
Secondly,there are concrete accomplishments to be cited:the economy is doing very well,no more terorist attacks in the US,countries free of Islamofascism,tax receipts at a near record high,the Medicare drug benefit,etc.Certainly,I feel he’s faailed at some big things;especially in revamping so. security-but there are some real accomplishments.No one has talked of anything Mr. Nagin has accomplished.And NO was in a crisis sitution prior to the flooding.
In a non crisis time,a Neville Chamberlain is acceptable.But sometimes a Churchill is needed.
May 21st, 2006 at 2:19:50 pm
I voted for Mayor Nagin in 2002. He was the reform candidate. After his election, Mayor Nagin helped root out corruption in city hall and tried to make the city more business friendly. He had more success in the former than the latter, but it was a positive first step. I had planned to vote for his re-election until he made the Chocolate City remark. The comment didn’t offend me or make me feel less welcome in my home town, mainly because I understood that Nagin was trying to pander, a skill which he lacks. Instead, I refused to vote for him because 1) I voted against all incumbents given the city’s lack of preparedness for Katrina; and 2) New Orleans right now depends upon the kindness of the strangers, and the rest of nation (upon whose tax dollars we depend for our recovery) viewed him as incompetent and an object of ridicule. His re-election, therefore, could jeopardize New Orleans’ recovery.
Nagin’s re-election, however, does not disappoint me. It is a far cry from 1991 when I had to choose between voting for a crook (Edwin Edwards) and a racist (David Duke), whose small-mindedness is surpassed only by his stupidity; yes, I voted for the thief. I believe Nagin will do a decent job while facing impossible conditions (and give comedians much fodder for jokes for as long as they look).
While I can understand the “let New Orleans fall into the sea” reaction that many of you are having, I believe it stems from a superficial understanding of the situation in New Orleans. While Mayor Nagin did benefit from the racial divide in New Orleans (he received a supermajority of the black vote), he still needed at least 20% of white vote. How do Nagin get this vote? By getting Republicans to vote for him. First, many Republicans refused to vote for Lt. Gov. Landrieu because his sister is a United States Senator with a liberal voting record. (It did not help Landrieu that news organizations called his family the Louisiana’s Kennedys. E.g., http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1985216). More importantly, the lieutenant governor, for all of his gifts of glib, pandered worse than Nagin: Lt. Gov. Landrieu said that he would appoint former mayors Sidney Barthelemy and Marc Moral to important city advisory committees. (http://www.nola.com/newslogs/topnews/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_topnews/archives/2006_05_07.html). Republicans do not hold the former mayors’ honesty and ability in particularly high regard. In fact, Landrieu’s cozying up to the former mayors caused Rob Couhig, the Republican who received the most votes in the primary, to endorse Nagin for re-election. Landrieu’s election, in the opinion of many, would be a return to the bad ol’ days, or probably more accurately, the worse ol’ days.
I hope and pray that you will continue to help New Orleans re-build.
May 21st, 2006 at 2:46:35 pm
Christ, rxwhite, Landrieu said that he would appoint Marc Morial to the city’s advisory committee?!? I didn’t know that. Now I’m surprised that Landrieu got as many votes as he did. Talk about putting the fox in charge of the henhouse…
May 21st, 2006 at 2:54:43 pm
This has turned into one of the more compelling threads on this blog. Thanks to all for their thoughtful posts.
Not being terribly familiar with NOLA, its hard for me to judge the incompetence of the various actors, but there are certainly many to do so for us all.
We ask, did Nagin fail last August? The answer, inarguably, is he definitely did.
What we tend not to ask is, how hard was the task at which Nagin failed?
The second guessers, on this and other blogs, are quite fond of insinuating that a sentient barnyard animal would have done better than Mayor Ray. They point to the flooded schoolbuses, stammer, “What…what…the buses!” as if that cements the point that Nagin not only failed but also f’ed up something not that difficult.
On the other hand…those flooded schoolbuses numbered 300 or so. Suppose each could carry 50 people. That’s 15,000 folks per cycle with those buses.
Estimates said that NOLA had 100,000 folks without transportation last August.
That means those buses would have had to make 6-7 trips to…where? Houston? No time. Baton Rouge? Maybe, still probably no time. The side of the road, just outside the flood zone? Good idea! Beyond that, how do you round up the transportation-less? Who will be your 300 drivers, leaving behind their families in this crisis?
He shoulda done something with those buses, friends…but be honest - raise your hand if you think you would have done a smashingly better job with such a logistical nightmare as coordinating those buses than poor fool Mayor Ray did.
(I didn’t raise my hand. Because the criteria was ’smashingly better job’. Had the criteria been ‘better job’, maybe I would have raised my hand).
Its all very well and good to say that, conceptually, Mayor Ray should burn because he did nothing in a difficult situation that demanded action, especially when there existed heroic weather bloggers spurring Nagin to actions he never took.
On the other hand, its possible that the citizens of NOLA will let the Gods deal with Nagin as they will; the citizens recognize far better than the rest of us what a logistical nightmare the Category 5 is -
- and perhaps they prefer to take their chances from someone who has experience making mistakes (he hopefully wouldn’t make again) vs. a hopeless career bureaucrat who furthermore has no experienced in such catastrophe.
Being a contrarian, I’m changing my tune: electing Nagin vs. Landrieu is not prima facie outrageous or self-defeating.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:05:08 pm
Interesting. Here’s an article from NOLA.com
Also after the primary, some black leaders and activists threatened a legal challenge to the results, saying that voter turnout figures proved their case that black voting strength had been unfairly diluted. Turnout among black voters in the primary was 31 percent, compared with 51 percent for white voters.
While black voter turnout in New Orleans generally lags white turnout, the disparity was more than 10 percent points larger than usual. In the 2002 mayoral primary, for instance, 50 percent of eligible white voters cast votes, compared with 45 percent of eligible black voters.
…
As the runoff campaign took shape, the city’s ingrained political and racial patterns began to break down. Landrieu was endorsed by the third-place finisher, Audubon Nature Institute chief executive Ron Forman, a Democrat who had attracted the support of many white conservatives. Nagin countered by landing the backing of Couhig, the leading Republican in the primary, and Boulet, a liberal Democrat, both of whom are white. He was also endorsed by firebrand minister the Rev. Tom Watson, who is black.
Landrieu, meanwhile, picked up endorsements from the Republican Party, a large contingent of elected officials of both races, and Bishop Paul Morton, pastor of the state’s largest black church.
The results Saturday suggest that Nagin managed to build back a sizable portion of his once-enviable white base, an accomplishment that likely put him over the top.
Pollsters had said that, based on his strong showing among black voters in the primary, Nagin would need at least 20 percent and perhaps 25 percent of the white vote to win. Landrieu, conversely, would have had to build slightly upon the 24 percent of black votes he received in the primary.
Early analyses Saturday night indicate that Nagin met his goal of a 20 percent share of the white vote, while Landrieu failed to build upon his African-American support, and might have even lost some.
It seems to me, white voters are responsible.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:08:20 pm
Hey Brendon-
I hope the NSA wasn’t spying on you when you caught the results.
LOL. (assuming libs will think I’m serious…)
-Bruce
May 21st, 2006 at 3:08:54 pm
Hey Brendan-
I hope the NSA wasn’t spying on you when you caught the results.
LOL. (assuming libs will think I’m serious…)
-Bruce
May 21st, 2006 at 4:17:36 pm
corwin-
My point about white men in Red States supporting Bush is that there are a myriad of reasons why these folks support Bush despite the fact that he is incompetent, regardless of the fact that he is white. As people have noted on this thread, there are a myriad of reasons why most blacks voted for Nagin over Landrieu, not just because Nagin is black.
May 21st, 2006 at 5:55:50 pm
And just what are those myriad of reasons,max?let me give a similar situation.Jessica Simpson wins a Golden Globe.Reasons to vote for jessica Simpson:
1.She has big breasts.
2.She has large hooters.
3.Bountiful bosoms
4.Super large mammaries.
So you see,my 4 reasons actually are one.
The problem with black voters returning
very flawed/and or incompetant candidates is I begin to wonder at what point will transgressions impact on black voters judgement,So far ,ethnoceentrism trumps logic.
Now there is another really good reason to vote for Mayor Nagin.His name is Landrieu.If genetics means anything,he’s not too bright.(See his sister.)There may be a sticking with the Devil you know argument to be made,but it’s hard to see it.
May 21st, 2006 at 6:13:38 pm
“So do you believe that most white men is Southern states vote for a candidate because he is 1) white and 2) a Republican?”
Well I dunno about shark, MM Esq, but I sure do. ;> Then again I suppose they have a Myriad of reasons. (”Hey Billy Bob, wut th’ hayll’s a dam’ Myriad?” “Dam’ if Ah know.” :) OKOK! J/K! Keep yer Bloody Shirts on, Johnnyrebs, ol’ Yankeesnob’s jes’ Funnin’ with ya, here. :) [But what I Still wanna know is, how do the Red Men in the White States vote? :]
Corwin, you make some very sound points. But even if you Hadn’t, anybody who can quote Nero Wolfe gets an A+ in my gradebook. “Satisfactory.” :)
Darkstar: exactly right.
Jazz, I agree, this is an Informative thread. / For one thing, some of the commenters actually know what they are Talking about. :) My thanks, too, to the New Orleanders & Louisianians who’ve shared their knowledge & viewpoints with us Outlanders. (Just btw, for any of you who may not know ~ nor Care, I’d imagine :> ~ I’m not the Blogboss here, I’m his Old Man. :)
Meg, I feel yours especially (#28 above) is an Excellent post. Thanks.
My son Brendan’s longstanding beef about Mayor Nagin has to do not nearly so much with his post-Katrina performance (or nonperformance, depending on how you view it), as it does with his having Failed to order an Evacuation at the point in time when it became clear to all who were Following it closely (which a responsible Mayor would have been doing) that a NOLA Landfall was no longer Improbable Enough to do anything BUT evacuate. When Ray did finally issue the order it was effectively Too Late ~ and lives were Needlessly lost as a consequence.
I agree with Brendan about that. / He cannot forgive Nagin for the blunder and I can understand that. / But the people of New Orleans have, in effect, officially forgiven the Mayor now, and theirs is the final judgement under our political system.
Commentposters’ informed perspectives on The Landrieus are very illuminating in this regard, too. You gotta Choose from the Menu that’s in front of you. (From a long distance away, I’d think maybe it’s too bad that Ron Forman didn’t make it to the Runoff instead of Mitch. Outcome might have been different, and Better. / But ~ he Didn’t. There it Is.)
This New Englander now has a Beef with a Landrieu, incidentally. No, no, not Mitch ~ nor Moon, though I gather his Incumbency was indeed Respectful of the Bad Old Loosiana Traditions hereinabove Lamented. ;> No, my gripe is with the former Girl of my Dreams, Senator Mary. :) Yes, I’ve dumped ol’ Blondie Blue-eyes and now Fantasize exclusively about the Woman of my Heart, my dear Wife. ;> For you see: in the Vote on the egregious English-Is-The-National-Language amendment, Mrs. Landrieu whored. She did. I saw the whole tawdry performance on CSPAN. Like any good principled Liberal, she voted “No”. I heard her say it. / Then later on, when it had become plain that the unnecessary, xenophobic, insulting & pragmatically-harmful proposal was going to Pass, she came back to the clerk’s table and changed her vote to “Yes”. Again, I Saw and Heard this Expedient Infidelity occur, in Real Time.
Fickle bitch. :> Fie upon her. May all her stolen Ballots be in Cajun. ;}
May 21st, 2006 at 9:01:21 pm
Thanks, Joe!
“The second guessers, on this and other blogs, are quite fond of insinuating that a sentient barnyard animal would have done better than Mayor Ray.”
I think Ray did a terrible job. But I’m not sure that anyone was left in New Orleans willing to be active in politics that could have done any better; generally, the people who could and who would have been willing had long since left (for, among other places, Houston). And I doubt that, say, Marc Morial had an evacuation plan, either.
People like to compare Nagin to, say, Rudy Giuliani, and I definitely think he falls short in the comparison. (I live in Houston now, and there are some very — strong opinions about Nagin here.) But Rudy was dealing with a functioning city with working, established disaster response systems. New Orleans is effectively a Third World city at the political level; it just never *looked* like a Third World city to those who visited. Katrina stripped aside the pretty veneer and the First World-level amenities (electricity, water, etc.) and left bare the fact that, as far as the management of New Orleans went, there was almost no there there. Want to blame Ray Nagin? Fine. But my father was complaining about the politicization of the levee boards more than 30 years ago. The seeds for the horror that Katrina wrought were planted long before Nagin was born and certainly before he became active in politics, and they were planted by people like the Landrieus.
How big a factor did race play in this? I do not know. But I will say this: historically, the people who have gotten most deeply screwed by the corruption that permeates every level of New Orleans and Louisiana state government/management have been the poor, and historically in the South, if you are black, you are significantly more likely to be poor, and vice versa. The Lower Ninth was mostly black because that was the least desirable area to live and thus the cheapest. I can see why even middle and upper-class black New Orleanians would not want to re-elect a Landrieu in particular; if you look at people suffering and think “there but for the grace of God go I,” that’s likely to affect your choice come election time.
New Orleans could have done better than Ray Nagin. However, Louisiana would be infinitely better off if tomorrow if the Landrieu clan disappeared lock, stock and barrel. There’s no comparison. The day when electing Bobby Landrieu is a sign of “accountability” will be a day when Satan straps on ice skates, IMHO.
You know what election could have made somewhat of a difference where Katrina was concerned? Bobby Jindahl vs. Kathleen Blanco. If Bobby had managed to pull that one out, I think he would have done a considerably better job than Kathleen. But that’s water under the bridge — literally.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:10:23 pm
Sorry, instead of “Bobby” Landrieu meant to say MITCH Landrieu. It’s a conspiracy, I tell you…
…speaking of which, Drudge is saying that Howard Dean directed the DNC to support Landrieu and work against the re-election of Nagin: http://www.drudgereport.com/flash5no.htm I’m shocked, SHOCKED.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:24:14 pm
Meg,
Reiterating Joe’s point, awesome effort on this thread. Yours has been some of the best commentary on the election, no doubt.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:27:29 pm
[…] New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has won re-election, confirming the perspective that people are all too happy to blame someone else’s politicians for whatever ails them but never holding their own accountable for the mess they have to deal with. I recall when Marion Barry was re-elected in DC after being busted in a hotel room with a woman not-his-wife and doing drugs. I said then that DC now deserved anything they got as a result of that clown’s idiocy. New Orleans now occupies the same bench, in my book. (Thank you, Instapundit, for the link to Brendan Loy.) […]
May 21st, 2006 at 10:27:29 pm
[…] New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has won re-election, confirming the perspective that people are all too happy to blame someone else’s politicians for whatever ails them but never holding their own accountable for the mess they have to deal with. I recall when Marion Barry was re-elected in DC after being busted in a hotel room with a woman not-his-wife and doing drugs. I said then that DC now deserved anything they got as a result of that clown’s idiocy. New Orleans now occupies the same bench, in my book. (Thank you, Instapundit, for the link to Brendan Loy.) […]
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:22:23 am
You’re most welcome, Meg. The compliments to your work are well deserved.
Brendan, excellent Update to the main Post. / Truce. :) Whether a (merely :) 80-20/20-80 election in Urban America is, or is Not, a Racecard one Is ~ as the late great :> Mario Angelo Procaccino of Bisaccia, Italy & New York, New York is Said to have Said (during his unsuccessful 1969 campaign for NYC Mayor) of the concept of rhetorical “Corn” ~ IS, as I (and Mario :) say, in the Ear of the Beholder. :>
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:32:47 am
From Drudge:
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) secretly placed political operatives in the city of New Orleans to work against the reelection efforts of incumbent Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean made the decision himself to back mayoral candidate and sitting Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (D-LA), sources reveal.
Dean came to the decision to back the white challenger, over the African-American incumbent Nagin, despite concerns amongst senior black officials in the Party that the DNC should stay neutral.
The DNC teams actively worked to defeat Nagin under the auspice of the committee’s voting rights program.
The party’s field efforts also coincided with a national effort by Democrat contributors to support Landrieu.
Landrieu had outraised Nagin by a wide margin - $3.3 million to $541,980.
Preliminary campaign finance reports indicate many of Landrieu’s contributions came from out of state white Democrat leaders and financiers, including a $1,000 contribution from Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-NE) PAC.
The defeat of Mitch Landrieu is the latest setback for Dean’s often criticized field operation.
In his victory speech late Saturday night, Nagin praised President Bush.
“You and I have probably been the most vilified politicians in the country. But I want to thank you for moving that promise that you made in Jackson Square forward,” Nagin said.
If the Dems don’t retake Congress or close to this fall, that should be the deathknell for Dean.
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:40:28 am
Brendan,
Your update made me think of the difference between finance and accounting, as it would apply to an election.
“Accounting” is the practice of counting beans, or reporting financial matters as they have already occured.
“Finance” is the practice of forecasting/projecting/anticipating beans or financial matters out in the future.
Should an election be “accouting”-like, or “finance”-like? If an election is “accounting”-like, the populace would hold the bums ‘accountable’ for what they have done (e.g. Nagin) and give them the boot.
If an election is ‘finance’-like, it would recognize that what happened in the past is water under the bridge (sorry, Joe), and given that the past cannot be changed, what is the best choice for the future?
I think it is safe to say that Meg and others have made excellent arguments that, using a ‘finance’-type approach, Nagin was the better of two unfortunate choices.
Personally, I think it makes more sense to vote using the ‘finance’-type approach, since we have not yet figured out a way to go back and change the past.
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:00:47 am
Justin,
I live in Houston, and even I’ve known for over a decade that the levies were not designed to handle a Cat 5 storm. The reason is simple, the costs were to high.
You say that NOLA is asking for only what it deserves… why do they deserve a couple of hundred billions of dollars? NOLA’s value as a port city can easily be divided up among other Gulf ports. It’s cultural value is being destroyed within. I note “Jazz” commenter above talks of Mardi Gras, but it was Mayor Nagin who tried to prevent Mardi Gras occurring this year or ever again. On the other hand, Galveston for one enjoyed the increased tourism for Mardi Gras.
Bottom line, you can’t sit your butt down in a swamp and then demand that the rest of the country pay for your foolish decision. Further, when the country absurdly pays for you to do so up to a point; you ought to quit complaining while your still ahead. Sadly NOLA residents rather refuse to help themselves and continue to blame everyone else for their misfortunes. As the first commenter wrote, next time, a few more people will refuse to answer the door when you need help. Take a trip across the border and learn a few things from those who suffered along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:36:52 am
As someone who actually did live in New Orleans for some time, I completely agree with Justin. There’s a reason I left back in ‘02, and it wasn’t just the horrible stench coming from a bacteria die-offs in the swamp mingling with the scent of Eau de Bourbon on some mornings. I’d finally graduated, and I swore to myself that I would never return unless I was paid to do so. The only things I miss are two restaurants on Magazine Street (Flying Burrito and Nirvana) and fried shrimp Po’ Boys. Well, and the sight of the Drive-Through Daquari Bars . . .genius, those. . .
I will refrain from going into more detail, because I know that once I start on this topic, I never shut up. But I will only say that *nothing* in the whole fiasco surprised me, or any of my college friends. Why weren’t we surprised? Well, one bumper sticker from befoer I left, which made me laugh at the time: “New Orleans: Third World and Proud!”
Yes, proud.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:12:50 am
Jazz, I would usually agree that it makes more sense to look at the future rather than the past when deciding who to vote for. Usually. But there are certain extraordinary occasions where a public official’s screw-ups are so bad that they simply cannot be overlooked. This is one of those occasions.
I live in Houston, and even I’ve known for over a decade that the levies were not designed to handle a Cat 5 storm.
I’m not sure what relevance this comment has, since when Katrina hit, it was NOT a Category 5 storm. It was a weakening Cat. 3 which brought winds and surge of Cat. 2 strength at most, and probably more like Cat. 1, to the Crescent City. The levees were breached because of shoddy construction by the Army Corps of Engineers, not because of Katrina’s overwhelming power. Much like Mayor Nagin’s incompetent reaction to the storm’s approach, that is an historical fact. And the best argument for continuing federal aid is that it’s the federal government’s fault that New Orleans flooded in this particular hurricane. It’s not an irrefutable argument, mind you, but if you’re going to argue for the feds to simply wash their hands of N.O., you have to at least grapple with it.
That said, if your point about the Category 5 issue is that Mayor Nagin was an idiot not to order evacuations sooner, because Katrina *could* have hit New Orleans as a Cat. 4 or 5 (indeed, there was no reason to believe, 24-48 hours out, that it would be no worse than a Cat. 1-2 in New Orleans, even though that’s what ultimately happened), and obviously a Cat. 4 or 5 would have either overtopped or breached the levees (and that would have NOT been the feds’ fault, it would have been in accordance with the levees’ design), then of course I agree with you.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:49:09 pm
“If the Dems don’t retake Congress or close to this fall, that should be the deathknell for Dean.”
That should go without saying. Also, Bob Shrum should NEVER be allowed to run a Presidential campaign again.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:55:22 pm
I do believe the comparisons of Nagin to Guiliani are ridiculous. Both guys really had their hands tied during both situations. When you think about it, neither actually could have done anything to change the outcome (I believe most political leaders would have done what Nagin did and would not have used buses to evacuate the city). The difference is Guiliani sounded like Winston Churchill and Nagin sounded like a scared rabbit.
However, if Guiliani had been dealing with a similar situation in NY without any help for three or four days, I’m not sure he wouldn’t have been on the radio spouting profanities, too.
May 22nd, 2006 at 2:00:41 pm
Meg, great show!
“it was the decades of corrupt machine politics and the corrupt political culture, pushed by political groups such as the Landrieus, that got N.O. into the terrible shape it was in to meet Katrina in the first place.”
This breaks the whole thing down to it’s essence IMHO because it seems to me that MOST people in this country vote along party lines at some point. regardless of who the candidate is because it is easier to trust the clown that you know already than to take a chance on the new person. Black or White. the problem in NO is institutional not racial because during the entire storm I dont recall the Lt. Gov stepping up and saying anything let alone being told to stand down by Nagin because his proposals were off base. there are white people in all counties, in this day and age, that will never vote for a black or hispanic person. never. so dont blame or tell the black people who voted the same way in NO that they will get there comeupance for being so narrow minded as race is still a problem in this country eventhough the masses want you to think otherwise.
I believe it was Hillary who call the House a Plantation to an all Black audience. why would the former 1st lady play the race card if it did not exist?
at the sametime I share Brendan’s frustration on this voter issue. as an American-Negro it has always burnt my arse to see the black politcians just smile and show up at church eat some chicken and collards and KNOW that they have the black vote all sown up. I believe that I am REPUBLICAN just for this reason. I have heard all the jokes…Black Republican is an oxymoron. LOL. I, however, do not believe that this was the case for Nagin I think it had more to do with the people being more comfortable with him and his antics than the KNOWN cheater and loser.
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:41:24 pm
Nagin was a reformer pre-K but NOLA was so messed up that anyone would have a tough time even without the destructive storm. Katrina just exposed the ugliness of New Orleans. Worst public schools in La., highest crime rate in U.S., etc….
Mitch Landrieu talks a good game but he’s never had a real job. He’s always been in politcs and he can’t even point to his legislative accomplishments. Plus he never outlined a plan, never said I’m going to do a, b and c. He spent around $4 million on the election and a lot of the money people are very disappointed. I doubt he’ll be able to run for another office.
In the end the race issue and the distrust for Landrieu were enough to get Nagin re-elected. On a side note NOLA hasn’t kicked out an incumbent mayor in 60 years.
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:40:03 pm
[…] Antidote: Suspect Device: takes one to know one Brendan Loy: Criminally incompetent […]
May 22nd, 2006 at 6:30:02 pm
He won, live with it.
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:11:32 pm
Correct, TBI.
A&A: it occurs to me that Giuliani’s successor Mayor Bloomberg might soon ~ like, Any old day now ~ have to deal with an even Worse hurricane catastrophe than Nagin did. Yes the weathernerds, hi Brendan :), and the Mainstream Doomsayers too, all seem to be Pushing the scenario of (so to speak) Mother Nature’s Manhattan Project these days. :| Seems it’s Time. Oy.
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:47:41 pm
meg @ 1:20 (#29) - you have excellently and succinctly stated not only why Nagin is again Mayor, you have also succinctly stated why the current President is President … Jazz @ 7:40 - likewise …
‘Ware the D-list - they ain’t gonna like it !
May 23rd, 2006 at 9:12:17 am
I see on my cell phone that the mayor who fiddled while New Orleans drowned has been re-elected. Sheesh. Welcome to America, where criminal incompetence is OK, being responsible for hundreds of deaths is no big deal, and the race card trumps reason.
I see on my TV and in my newspapers every day and night confirmation that this is true - George Bush, king of fiddling while things burn, champion and patron saint of criminal incompetents, and a man who is responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths and maimings, is still in DC pretending to be President Of The United States.
May 24th, 2006 at 8:10:23 am
The Race Card
Let’s find out what these Race Cards are, who has them, and how they got them.
May 25th, 2006 at 5:00:48 am
[…] Accountability is officially deadReaction to the re-election of Ray Nagin as mayor of NOLA; lots of interesting comments. […]
May 25th, 2006 at 10:04:52 am
[…] This week, the Carnival is up at Red County, California, a blog "focused on a conservative county on the liberal Left Coast." The politics of this blog should not be why you visit it - although it is hard to keep politics out of this conversation, as evidenced by this particular blog post in the carnival. This "Independent News Weblog" reports on the closing of an important landfill. […]
May 26th, 2006 at 8:26:23 pm
whats the new motorola music phone called?
Steve