Voting For the Crook
by Jeff Crouere

Back in 1991, the nation looked on in horror as Louisiana had to choose between David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, and Edwin Edwards, the corrupt silver fox from Crowley, in the race for Governor. In the campaign, unlikely Edwards supporters printed bumper stickers that implored voters statewide to “Vote for the Crook It’s Important!” Of course, that is just what voters did and Edwards defeated Duke by a 61-39% margin. Edwards was elected, served a controversial and ineffective term, and was promptly indicted and later convicted. He now sits in federal prison, a fitting resting place for a “Crook.”

Fifteen years later, many voters of the Second Congressional District were forced to make an unpleasant choice between the incumbent Congressman “Dollar” Bill Jefferson (D-New Orleans) and State Representative Karen Carter (D-New Orleans). Jefferson has been named on the “most corrupt” list in Congress. He has been criticized for improper use of National Guard resources in the aftermath of Katrina. Most significantly, he is under federal investigation and infamously had $90,000 cash uncovered in his freezer by the FBI. His congressional office, his home, his New Orleans office, his automobiles were all searched by federal agents.

According to sources, video tape exists of Jefferson trying to shakedown a confidential witness for a bribe, supposedly to be passed on to a Nigerian government official. The country of Nigeria claims millions of dollars is missing from their treasury and investigators are pointing fingers at Jefferson. Two of Jefferson’s close associates, one former business colleague and one former political assistant, have now pleaded guilty. Jefferson has not been charged yet, most likely because the federal government did not want to interfere in an ongoing election and because there have been delays in the case caused by House leaders complaining about infringement of Justice Department officials in the search of Capitol Hill offices.

While Jefferson is not officially a “crook” he bears a close resemblance to one, a rather typical scenario in Louisiana politics. So, why did so many voters feel it was important to “Vote for the Crook?” There were a number of reasons.

1) Lucrative Contracts. Although Karen Carter is not a racist like David Duke and does not have scandalous baggage like an affiliation with the KKK, she does have a controversial past in the Louisiana Legislature. Jefferson was able to point out questionable contracts that pointed to her profiting from her position. Jefferson claimed that her relationship with the insurance industry was “too cozy.” In addition, her primary opponent Joe Lavigne criticized her for missing key votes all too often. The absences begs the question, was she working on her other jobs instead of working for the people?

2) Jefferson Parish Harry Lee was a major influence in the election. He expressed the outrage of many in the parish over Carter’s comments in the Spike Lee documentary “When the Levees Broke,” in which she criticized the actions of Jefferson Parish law enforcement personnel as “inhumane” and “un-American.” Carter was critical of the Gretna police and Jefferson Parish deputies who stopped fleeing Katrina evacuees from crossing the Mississippi River Bridge into Gretna in the aftermath of Katrina. Lee sent out a hard-hitting mailer expressing his “utter contempt” for Carter. It worked in motivating some white voters to stay home and others to “hold their nose” and reluctantly vote for Jefferson.

3) The Derrick Shepherd Effect. The Marrero State Senator, who finished third in the primary election, worked hard for the Congressman, contacting his West Bank supporters and friendly ministers to support the incumbent. Shepherd has made no secret of his interest in running for the position in the near future. If Jefferson is indicted, the Congressman may be forced to vacate his position as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. He may not want to gamble with a federal trial like his brother-in-law, former Judge Alan Green, who was convicted and now sits in jail. Many voters were sophisticated enough to understand the dynamics of a Jefferson victory versus a Carter victory. If Carter were elected, chances are that the young politician would have been in the seat for many years. As we now know, defeating an incumbent Congressman in Louisiana is next to impossible, so voters were deciding not on a two year term for Carter, but potentially a twenty year term. They figured they would “hold their nose” and vote for Jefferson and hope that the seat opens up soon for a more attractive candidate.

4) Social Issues were important. Throughout his career, Bill Jefferson has been a solid supporter of abortion, but not late term abortion. He also is not a strong advocate for gay marriage and is not on record supporting human cloning. Yet, Karen Carter supported not only late term abortion, but gay marriage and human cloning. Her views on these social issues were completely out of the mainstream of the district, especially for the voters in Jefferson Parish. So, many white social conservatives made an unlikely decision to support Jefferson because he was not as liberal on these issues, very important to this segment of voters. So, just like Mayor Ray Nagin in the New Orleans Mayor’s race, Jefferson benefited by receiving votes from an unusual coalition of black liberals and white conservatives.

Many political observers around the country will look at the results from the election and wonder what has happened in Louisiana politics once again. I have already received the complaints from many who say “How could you re-elect this guy!” What our friends around the nation do not understand is that many voters in this area are quite intelligent and sophisticated. In fact, many were making an unpleasant short term choice rather than a long term commitment. In the mayor’s race, voters chose to stay with four years of Nagin, instead of electing the “Landrieu machine” for eight years. In the congressional race, voters re-elected Bill Jefferson to a term that may span only a few months instead of electing a staunch liberal for a lifetime position.

That is why once again, the mantra among at least a strong segment of the electorate was “Vote for the Crook, it’s Important.” Unfortunately, in Louisiana politics, our open primary system has led to run-offs where voters have to choose between the “lesser of two evils.” Thankfully, for the next congressional election cycle in 2008, Louisiana is joining the rest of the nation with party primaries, in which the run-off election will feature the top Republican versus the top Democrat. I predict that in that election the run-off choice will be stark and for the vast majority of voters there will be one candidate they can vote for instead of a candidate they have to vote against.

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and Noon till 2 p.m. weekdays on several Louisiana radio stations. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com.