A Republican wins in New Orleans? Somebody pinch me:
Nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has been battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years, lost his bid for re-election on Saturday.
Republican challenger Anh "Joseph" Cao, an attorney and community organizer, defeated Jefferson in the 2nd Congressional district race. He will become the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Cao had almost 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson's 47 percent.. . .
"The people of the second district were able to transcend party, transcend race," Cao said after claiming victory Saturday night.
Note that Cao is a "community organizer" -- a cruel irony for "Cold Cash" Jefferson.
Cliff| 12.7.08 @ 2:02PM
This is great news, and a great day for America! Not only do we get rid of Cold Cash Jefferson, which would have been good replacing with almost anybody, but we elected Mr. Cao, who's a great, great American.
Realistically, it will be almost impossible for Cao to win re-election. This is kind of like the Rostenkowski seat in '94, an R wins because, and only because, of a D so corrupt even the D's can't deny it. When Flanagan faced a (seemingly) non-corrupt D (It was Blagojevich), he lost 2/1.
But I hope Mr. Cao is not just one-and-out. If he does a good job in his 2 years, he could make a good statewide candidate for something. Hell, he'd be a good candidate to replace Vitter if Vitter decides he can't overcome the scandals, although his approval ratings were pretty good last I saw.
If not, he'd be a good Lt. Governor or other Statewide Candidate.
Ran| 12.9.08 @ 9:17PM
Please tell us that Cao is a free-market conservative...
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