[StBernard] New Orleans Mayoral Election

[Westley Annis]

Well...we moved back to LA in 1972 and I think Moon was still in office.
Now, I was 18-19 or so at the time so I didn't pay alot of attention to such
things.  However, I seem to remember reading something later about the fact
that Moon saw the changing face of the city and tried to bring more African
Americans into his administration.  So I don't know if I can go with the
thing about him being responsible for the decline.  
 
However, with Nagin (sigh) everyone wants to vote for a "business guy", but
the fact is maybe sometimes the "government guy (or gal) is the one you
need.  They are the ones who hopefully know the ins and outs of govt.  I've
read that he had a lot of problems at first adjusting to government mode,
just couldn't understand why his orders/wishes couldn't just happen.  I
really thought he was clueless though when we had the evacuation for Ivan in
'04.  I saw him on TV saying to the effect, "Well if you feel more
comfortable evacuating, yeah, get you some Benjamins out of the bank and
take off for a few days".  I thought:  "Does this guy have any idea of who
his constituents really are?"  Is he aware that a lot probably don't have a
couple of Benjamins, much less a car?"
 
Now, I'm not a bleeding heart liberal so don't get me wrong.  But as I also
wrote, I think if I had had a stake in that election, my temptation might
have been to sit it out.
 
Jim


 

	-----------------------------------------------------
	Jim,
	
	It is my opinion that Moon Landrieu started the city on it's great
big
	decline over the past 30+ years. I could not see any reason why
Mitch would
	be the one to reverse it.
	
	The AP has a story out about the election and one paragraph I think
also
	helps point out the problem with the Landrieu's:
	
	----
	But during the run-off campaign, Nagin actively courted conservative
white
	voters by emphasizing his business background in contrast to
Landrieu, a
	longtime politician and a member of Louisiana's equivalent to the
Kennedy
	family. He would have been the first white mayor of New Orleans
since his
	father, Moon, in the 1970s.
	http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12903625/
	----
	
	As for party politics, it has always been my contention that for
local
	elections, party does not matter. If the candidate is local enough
that you
	can go knock on their door, party affiliation doesn't mean squat.
	
	Now, I understand you couldn't do that in New Orleans, just because
the city
	is too big and there are too many weirdo's, but I still think it is
a local
	election.
	
	Of course, the other thing that would have prompted me to vote for
Nagin
	would have been my own personal backlash against the Democratic
National
	Committee. They poured millions of dollars and had enough
"consultants"
	employed in this race to make me vote against Landrieu even if I had
liked
	the guy.
	
	Westley