Image courtesy of Yodale
LiberalAmerica.org has already covered the excitement generated in the 5th Congressional District down in the great State of Louisiana, where a special runoff election was held to replace their retiring Republican Congressman.
Republican Vance McAllister beat Republican Neil Riser in the special runoff election to win the vacant U.S. Congressional seat in the 5th Louisiana District. Seven term Republican Congressman, Rodney Alexander, had vacated the seat in order to take a position in the administration of Louisiana Republican Governor, and Teabully darling, Bobby Jindal.
Congressman elect McAllister’s opponent, Republican Neil Riser, was backed by several Teabully groups, and by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who has refused to accept Federal funds for the expansion of Medicaid, which would allow many of Louisiana’s uninsured working poor to get healthcare.
Image courtesy of CenLamar
But Vance McAllister did have the endorsement of Phil Robertson, the patriarch, and one of the stars of the hit cable TV reality show ?Duck Dynasty?. Local Parrish Chairman, and Riser supporter, Harold Coates, attributed the win to the Duck Dynasty star’s commercials airing on behalf of McAllister.
McAllister said this during his victory speech:
It’s gonna be fun. I guess Fox News, get ready. Sometimes the truth ain’t what you want to hear, but it’s what you’re going to get.
65 percent of the district’s voters are African American and the district has a poverty rate that is higher than the national average. With an estimated 20 percent of the residents in the district uninsured, McAllister took 60 percent of the vote. And, unlike Governor Jindal, who refuses the Federal money, McAllister would like the state to accept the Federal Medicaid funding.
That might not have been the only thing that made Vance McAllister the Congressman elect. It seems that McAllister also said that he:
Would support a path to citizenship for those immigrants already here illegally.
Now Congressman elect McAllister claims to be against Obamacare. Perhaps, the power of the Duck Dynasty boys was a bridge too far for the Teabully backed candidate to cross in a district with so many uninsured, so many African American voters and no Democratic candidate on the ballot.
Perhaps, the voters in the 5th Louisiana Congressional District aren’t as strongly against Obamacare as many Republican strategists would like the public to believe. And, when faced with a choice of a Teabully far right candidate, running against a regular Conservative Republican, the regular Conservative Republican will get the nod.
Image courtesy of The Desert Review
But, when faced with the choice of a healthcare denying, immigrant hating, Teabully, backed by FreedomWorks candidate, and a Democratic candidate, let’s hope that the margin of victory for the Democrat will be the same in 2014 all across America.
Let’s face it, Americans really do support getting healthcare for all, which is the ultimate goal of the ACA. Americans also support comprehensive immigration reform, which would allow millions of Americans to come out of the shadows. Immigration reform is also known to the Teabully base that drives GOP primary voting, as amnesty for illegals. And Republican candidates actually making it to Congress, who give any public impression of support for the ACA or for immigration reform, do so at their peril.
So applause to Congressman elect McAllister and let’s listen to what he says, and watch how he votes, once he takes his place in the GOP/Teabully House up on Capitol Hill. Perhaps, Congressman McAllister will disappoint the voters back home, leading them and voters everywhere to conclude that in 2014, when the entire House will be up for re-election, both the GOP and the Teabully candidates need to be shown the door.
Image courtesy of Flickr
November 4, 2014 will be a very important day.
Edited by SS
