[StBernard] Frustration drives Boasso campaign

[Westley Annis]

Frustration drives Boasso campaign

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/grace/index.ssf?/base/news-0/119208426799710.xm
l&coll=1
 
Thursday, October 11, 2007 
Stephanie Grace


>From the outside, the theme to state Sen. Walter Boasso's campaign for

governor appears to be frustration. 

Boasso is frustrated as a resident and representative of St. Bernard Parish,
where he watched dead bodies float in the water after Hurricane Katrina,
waited for days for help and still feels the pain of tens of thousands of
storm-tossed constituents. 

He's frustrated as just one of 144 lawmakers serving in a political system
so dominated by the governor. Boasso recently told the Press Club of Baton
Rouge that he decided to run for the top job because "I wasn't going to
waste four more years of my life in the Senate" hoping the state would elect
a strong governor. 

And as a lesser-known candidate, Boasso is clearly frustrated that U.S. Rep.
Bobby Jindal is such a heavy favorite, and that he's behaving like one. In
fact, Boasso said he wants nothing more than to draw the congressman into
more debates than the two that have occurred so far, including one that was
broadcast only in Shreveport. 

"Mr. Jindal decided to sit on his football and try to run out the clock. I
think it's very unfair and unjust to the people of Louisiana," he said in a
recent interview. 


>From the inside of the campaign, Boasso said, the emphasis is less on his

frustrations and more on his strengths. 

"The biggest message I'm trying to get across," Boasso said, "is leadership.
The only way to judge a leader is by their past." 

Boasso's past has much to recommend it, including a rags-to-riches tale of
business success and a noteworthy post-Katrina reform victory, the
consolidation of levee boards, on which he actually led and Gov. Kathleen
Blanco followed. 

Where he'd lead as governor, however, is a little harder to tell -- from the
outside, anyway. 

Boasso switched from Republican to Democrat at the onset of the campaign,
but still considers himself a conservative. 

He said he thinks he's been "very clear about my ideas in the sense of being
innovative and creative," particularly on education, health care and
insurance. But only some of his thoughts are outlined in widely available
position papers. 

One of the most interesting ideas he brings up at candidate forums is "Camp
Boasso," a revamped rehabilitation program for convicted criminals. But as
of Wednesday, there was no information available on the topic on his Web
site. 

Boasso's education plan is posted, outlining proposals that include raising
teacher salaries, providing incentives to attract successful teachers to
hard-to-staff schools, and promoting discipline and character education. 

But while the plan proposes informal diagnostic testing of students
throughout the year, it does not list the idea that has gotten the most
press attention: Boasso's stated willingness to revisit Louisiana's
high-stakes testing program. 

Noting that the widely praised LEAP program hasn't cured the state's
educational ills, Boasso said he's committed to accountability, but "when
you're looking at pulling something apart and putting it back together,
everything has to be on the table." 

"If there's a better way to build a mousetrap, we're going to look at it,"
he said. 

Still, what's on his Web site probably matters less than the ad campaign,
and most of Boasso's commercials focus more on Jindal than on himself. 

They include the cleverest commercials this season, the series portraying
Jindal as a slight two-dimensional cut-out figure in contrast to the hefty
Boasso. They also include the toughest ads, which trash Jindal's stewardship
of the Department of Health and Hospitals and accuse him of being
"heartless." 

For the strategy to succeed, it would have to both keep Jindal's support
below 50 percent and also give Boasso enough of a boost over Foster Campbell
and John Georges to propel him into the second runoff spot. 

Polls so far, however, reflect little movement on either front, and the game
clock is ticking down. For Boasso, who's been hitting so hard for so long,
that's got to be frustrating.