>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > MORE SCUTTLEBUTT CLANCY DUBOS < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < KNOWLEDGE < < < < < < < < < < <IS < <POWER <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 13 15 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
scuttle Butt
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“I don’t feel comfortable standing next to the man. That’s the truth.” — State Rep. Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse, a thirdparty Senatorial candidate, as he stood next to U.S. Sen. David Vitter at the Oct. 27 debate hosted by WDSU-TV. When Vitter protested, Wooton delivered the finishing blow: “You’re not standing next to a hypocrite. I am.” “Louisiana is in the midst of the most serious budget crisis in our history, and our governor is absent without leave. I shouldn’t be surprised. … As our colleges and universities face crippling budget cuts and the future of our health care system is in doubt, Jindal himself is not minding the store. Who can keep track of where he is these days? I don’t know if he’s campaigning for another politician in California, Wisconsin or New Hampshire, or raising money for himself in Texas or Maryland.” — Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, in a letter to the editor of the Baton Rouge Advocate, Oct. 26. That day, Gov. Bobby Jindal was in New Mexico at a fundraiser.
DEBATE CLUB
The Men Behind the Ads
PAGE 13
c'est what?
BY JEREMY ALFORD
hat has become of modern politics? Petty spying has replaced issues-based campaigns, videos of half-truths are standing in for public debates, and candidates have become brands, rather than human beings — especially in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race. In today’s politics, anybody can drop a dime and become an influencer, even if he or she is peddling fiction from the shadows. We rarely see anything personal about the candidates — unless it’s embarrassing. If a staffer were to interrupt President
W
Barack Obama or Gov. Bobby Jindal during a press conference to replace their batteries, many of us might not even blink. So we asked the challenger, Rep. Charlie Melancon, and incumbent Sen. David Vitter to get real, just for a few moments, to talk about their childhoods, college days, families, interests and disinterests. The end results (or lack thereof) say more about the candidates than all their ads put together. THE MEL ANCON CAMPAIGN AGREED TO LET THE
WHOM DO YOU SUPPORT IN THE NOV. 2 U.S. SENATE RACE?
65%
Charlie Melancon
Chris Paul and Chase Bank
David Vitter
6% Other
Vote on “c’est what?” on bestofneworleans.com THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
PAGE 11
BoUQuets
29%
What do you think of NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas’ frequent use of motorist roadblocks as a crimefighting tool?
THIS WEEK’S HEROES AND ZEROES
have formed the CP3 Afterschool Zone, a partnership to team up with local schools to offer sports, art, music and homework help for local children, including free transportation. Paul and Chase each donated $500,000 to get the program underway, and the Afterschool Zone was kicked off at a press conference Oct. 28 at KIPP Central City Primary School.
The Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium
donated a new piano to the Mahalia Jackson Center, the Central City facility that offers Head Start programs, health screenings and other services with the goal of preparing babies and toddlers to enter school ready to succeed. The piano will be dedicated in an event Nov. 2 featuring a performance by pianist Carmen White.
Liberation Through Education and the Youth Rescue Initiative
gave away more than 1,000 books to local kids Oct. 30 to commemorate Family Literacy Day. At the book fair, held at Borders on St. Charles Avenue, adult storytellers read from their favorite children’s stories, and children in attendance were given vouchers and allowed to select their own books.
Tim Profitt,
a county coordinator for Rand Paul’s Kentucky Senate campaign, was caught on video stepping on the head of Lauren Valle, an anti-Paul protestor outside a debate Oct. 25, giving her a concussion and spraining her shoulder and arm. After Profitt was fired, he was unrepentant and unapologetic, suggesting Valle should apologize to him instead. It was a low point even in a gutter-level election season.
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > NOVEMBER 02 > 2010
FORCED TO SHED THEIR GAME FACES, DAVID VITTER AND CHARLIE MELANCON FINALLY OPEN UP … A LITTLE.
Rep. Charlie Melancon (left) hopes to defeat incumbent David Vitter in the Nov. 2 race for Vitter’s U.S. Senate seat.
At the Oct. 27 U.S. Senate candidates debate hosted by WDSU-TV, incumbent Sen. David Vitter and Democratic challenger Rep. Charlie Melancon were joined by four thirdparty candidates: Randall Todd Hayes (Libertarian), William McShan (Reform Party), Mike Spears (Independent) and state Rep. Ernest Wooton (Independent). Melancon and Vitter, predictably, took plenty of swipes at each other, but Wooton — like Glenn Close in the movie Basic Instinct — would not be ignored. “I know you don’t recognize this, David,” he told Vitter, “but we’re your opponents, too.” In response to moderator Norman Robinson’s first question
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