There were three races since the onset of the election campaign that most pundits believed would flip from Democrat to Republican: Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina. Most voters would’ve guessed that if any of those three candidates were to slip up, it would have been Sen. Kay Hagan, a candidate who was facing re-election for the first time. For this reason, it came as a huge surprise when the two more seasoned candidates, Mark Pryor and Mary Landrieu, made obvious mistakes.
Sen. Mary Landrieu in the waning days of the campaign said that the “South hasn’t always been the friendliest place for African Americans. … [i]t’s not always been a good place for women to present ourselves. The South is more of a conservative place.” This desperate move underlines Sen. Landrieu’s complete lack of understanding regarding the issues most important to Louisiana voters. This ploy implied that the South was racist and sexist; Sen. Landrieu’s comment is flat out deplorable. Thankfully, voters in South Carolina seem not to have heard Sen. Landrieu’s comments, as they chose Tim Scott to represent them. Scott is the first black candidate to win a statewide election in South Carolina since Reconstruction. By the way, Landrieu has already been elected to three Senate terms. And it looks like enough voters have sided with her to at least ensure a run off. If the citizens of Louisiana were really the sexist bigots she claims they are, wouldn’t that have been an impossibility?
Sen. Landrieu continues to ignore the simple reality that Obama’s failing policies – which she heartily supported – are the real issue, not all this silly rhetoric. There is no more “war on women.” Maybe Sen. Landrieu needs to grasp that fact instead of grasping at straws!