A Message to Local Republicans

Recently, a couple of bloggers over at Cenla Antics, a blog created by Quint Carriere, the Fundraising Chair of Cenla GoPAC (a local political action committee dedicated to electing Republican candidates), have criticized our decision to provide election analysis and candidate endorsements.

Needless to say, the folks at Cenla Antics and I have a history with one another.

A year and a half ago, I wrote a letter to The Town Talk about Cenla Antics. At the time, Cenla Antics was not exactly well-known, yet it frequently received as many as fifty new comments every day. And for someone who was getting reacquinated with local politics, Cenla Antics often served as an informative resource. Notably, Cenla Antics was the first local political blog, created around a month before WeSawThat launched their website and five months before I created CenLamar.

During the race for Alexandria mayor, the conversation on Cenla Antics often became heated, at times bordering on the defamatory, and for a kid who was just getting his feet wet in politics, it was hard not to take it personally. To his credit, Mr. Carriere constantly attempted to refocus the conversation, and when bloggers began attacking my disability and my late father, Mr. Carriere, who, at the time, I had never met or even spoken with, intervened, urging fellow bloggers to maintain civility. A few months after the election, I met with Mr. Carriere, and while our politics may not be the same, I think we share a great deal of respect for the democratic process and for the future of our State. And I think we both understand that, at the end of the day, the only way for our State to progress is by working together- conservatives and progressives, Republicans and Democrats.

After last year’s election, I became a member of the new administration, and since then, I have been incredibly busy. I enjoy the work. When I returned to Alexandria after college, I became passionate about my hometown, and I am thankful for the opportunity and the ability to put this passion into practical use on a daily basis– working with people from all walks of life toward a shared goal.

In my spare time, I have continued and will continue to operate this blog, expressing my personal opinions on a wide range of issues and allowing others the freedom to contribute and comment on our on-going discussion. We may not always agree with one another, but I believe a free and open exchange of ideas is essential to the preservation of our democracy.

As a product of the Louisiana public education system and as a disabled American who endured a protracted battle in order to receive health care coverage (after my family’s private insurance provider eliminated my coverage when I was only ten years old), I have real concerns about Governor-elect Jindal’s health care and education plans and priorities, and I have simply exercised my right as an American citizen to voice, among other things, those concerns.

But the election for Louisiana Governor is over, and although I refuse to relinquish my freedoms of speech and expression to those who disingenuously claim that balanced criticism no longer has a place in our new political landscape (or those who claim that our support of those in whom we believe is somehow “immature”), I understand, through personal experience, the need for all of us to work together, to communicate, and, when necessary, to challenge one another. Without such a healthy conversation– a conversation that recognizes Louisiana’s political diversity, our State will never be able to climb off the “bad lists” of which Mr. Jindal spoke frequently during the campaign.

That said, the opinions that I express on this blog are, exclusively, my opinions; additionally, both PointeCoupeeDemocrat and Daniel Smith also express their own opinions. All three of us have a different perspective on things. Despite the erroneous claim that I was hired as a blogger, this blog is an avocation, a hobby; it is not –and has never been– my occupation. Since taking a job in the administration, I have rarely commented on our local government, except when I felt it necessary to give credit where credit was due. I have refrained from commenting not only because it would be unfair to the hard-working people with whom I work on a daily basis, but also because I have learned, during the course of the past year, that, locally, progress can only occur when people set aside their own agendas (we have elections to sort those out) and honestly work with one another to achieve a common goal.