A cornerstone of campaigning slowly came to a troubling halt during Louisiana’s primary election season for some candidates and campaigns.
Why? Because more entities than ever, from inside and outside the state, were attempting to poll anything and everything ahead of the heated Nov. 4 primary.
In a late-October interview, pollster John Scurich of Multi-Quest in Metairie said the companies that employ the individuals who dial the phones and ask the questions were surprisingly overwhelmed toward the end of the election cycle.
“I’m being forced to turn down business right now because the interviewing firms are all booked up,” Scurich said. “A lot of people don’t realize that a lot of these firms also do medical surveys, too, and their political work is something they do on the side. I’ve never seen it like this before.”
Bernie Pinsonat, a partner in Southern Media and Opinion Research in Baton Rouge, said he experienced the same obstacles.
“This has really taken everyone by surprise. We were caught off guard,” Pinsonat said in late October. “The problem is there are races all over the United States and there are races for governor and everything else. They’re just swamped. If anyone calls me right now I’m going to have to tell them, ‘I’m sorry. I just can’t do it.’”
The real problem, though, wasn’t the number of candidates, he added.
“It’s the PACs (political action committees). They are so big now and have so much money that they always want to be in the field,” Pinsonat said. “Most of them need it because they don’t know Louisiana. Some of them have more money than political sense.”
While most of the campaigns that pre-booked their polling and tracking didn’t encounter problems, anyone wishing to go into the field fresh at the end of cycle found challenges.According to a report issued recently by the Center for Responsive Politics, nearly $4 billion will be spent on this year’s midterm elections. That makes this cycle the most expensive ever seen in American history.
Testing the Tea Party
This election year is prompting some on the right to begin writing the Tea Party movement’s obituary, as others predict a long-expected merger with the evangelical wing of the state GOP.
To be certain, many of the Tea Party’s priorities are intersecting with those of the Christian right this year in Louisiana. Last month in Pride, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, hosted a rally for candidates who had received endorsements from various Tea Party groups.
Those invited to the religious rally were retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness, a U.S. Senate candidate; Zach Dasher from the 5th Congressional District field; and state Rep. Lenar Whitney from the 6th District race.
Bob Reid, one of the founding members of the Tea Party of Louisiana, said there’s definitely something to read into it all.
“We’re starting to overlap a lot. We’re working closely together,” he said. “Our organization has given the Republican leadership four years to take hold of all this and calm down. But it’s still a RINO (Republican In Name Only) establishment. We may eventually try to make a big move with the Christian right and start our own party.”
Those interviewed, both from inside these factions and detached, aren’t so sure about that bold statement. But most were in agreement that times are changing, and very quickly. Tea Party factions have already been co-opted by religious organizations in other states. Plus, the movement in Louisiana may need an extra boost.
While Maness failed to get the support of the stateside Tea Party groups, he had much more to gain this cycle from national Tea Party endorsements. Like money, which is noticeably absent from the state’s Tea Party scene, along with infrastructure and organization.
For example, the national group Tea Party Express financially backed Maness, Dasher and Paul Dietzel in the 6th District. Other groups with like leanings, such as the Senate Conservatives Fund, Madison Project, Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, have been playing in Louisiana as well.
One politico connected to conservative politics said nods from national Tea Party groups are the only kind that matter in this environment.
“The Tea Party in Louisiana peaked in 2010 and they still don’t realize it,” the source said. “It’s on its last legs here. So it makes sense for them to try and combine forces with another fringe group like the Christian right.”
Reid countered that the talk is “just bashing and negativity from the establishment.”
Still, the Tea Party folks need a big win in Louisiana this year to remain relevant by themselves.
On the other side of this equation, sources close to Christian politics say they are seeing an “evangelical renaissance” in Louisiana that’s being fueled partly by interactions with voters who started their activism with the Tea Party movement.
They saw the Dasher campaign, in particular, as the perfect hybrid during the primary. He avoided the kind of guerrilla tactics that can often make traditional Tea Party candidates look hokey, while still pulling down money from the national groups. He has also crafted a hard-right religious message while offering up his campaign as a “melting pot for conservative voters,” one campaign source said.They Said It“They used to say that the biggest sin in Louisiana politics was to be boring. Now Louisiana’s become more like Washington.”—Lake Charles attorney R. Michael McHale, in The New York Times
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