I’m guessing many of you got this email tonight as well:
Dear Drew,
Over the course of my life in politics, I’ve met a lot of politicians — left, right, center, you name it. And while I may not always agree with the positions of some of my Republican friends, I can at least respect them when they walk the talk and show the courage of their convictions.
But while honest differences of opinion are one thing, there’s one thing I won’t abide — not in my friends, not in my clients, not in right-wingers, not in left-wingers and certainly not in a United States Senator who represents the state I’ll always call home: a blatant hypocrite and someone who distorts the record of a fellow Cajun.
And that is why I want you to join me in booting David Vitter from the U.S. Senate.
Of course, it will be worth voting David Vitter out of the Senate just because his positions on far too many issues are so extreme. But it’s the blatant hypocrisy that really rankles me and takes this to the next level.
He ran for office as a squeaky-clean reformer, and then voted against ethics reform. He took hundreds of thousands of dollars from financial interests, and then voted for the kind of rampant deregulation that allowed huge Ponzi schemes to steal millions from Louisiana families. He rails against excessive spending, then crammed almost $250 million in pet projects into a recent spending bill.
After running around all summer scaring people about health insurance reform, Vitter decided a couple of weeks ago to endorse a plan that calls for eliminating all employer-based health insurance. The nearly two million Louisianians who have employer-based insurance should be scared about Vitter’s plan: if Vitter gets his way, they’ll be on their own.
And don’t get me started on his record when it comes to supporting our military personnel. He offers paeans to troops — which I sure hope they enjoy, because if they’re depending on Vitter, that’s all they’re going to get.
If you’re as sick of Vitter’s act as I am, then I hope you’ll support a candidate who is the opposite of Vitter in almost every way: my friend, Charlie Melancon. Charlie grew up with small-town Louisiana values and still lives in his hometown.
And rather than merely preaching the virtues of the free market, he’s actually succeeded in it, building a chain of ice cream shops as well as an insurance agency.Charlie’s gone up against the federal bureaucracy and insurance companies in his ongoing crusade on behalf of the people whose lives were turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina. He’s a champion of the environment, fighting to protect Louisiana’s disappearing marshes and swamps.
All these qualities would make Charlie an outstanding U.S. Senator. But he’s also got one that matters more to me than all the others.
He’s an honest man — which to me means you can figure out what he’s going to do by listening to his words. He doesn’t preach family values. He lives them in his more than 37-year marriage to his wife, Peachy.
And Charlie doesn’t have to fake his sincerity on issues like the economy and health care either. His sincerity is evident throughout his life.
We need to put Charlie in a position to respond early and often to Vitter’s relentless smears, so we can remind voters just who’s on the attack and why.
That’s why I’m asking you to make your personal stand against blatant hypocrisy by rushing a generous contribution of $5 or even more if you can afford it to Charlie Melancon’s campaign today.
No election in the 2010 cycle is more important to me — yes, because I’m fromLouisiana, and sure, because Charlie’s a friend.
But most of all, I care about this race because I’ve had it with hypocrites who say one thing and then vote the opposite. If you’ve had it with right-wing hypocrites too, I hope you’ll contribute to Charlie’s campaign today.
Sincerely,
James Carville
CenLamar 
Although I very seldom agree with the politics of that nasty little man, Carville. I do agree that Sen. David Vitter is not the man we should have in the U.S. Senate. It is not a matter of Democrats or Republicans, it is a matter of integrity and not totally following the Republican party lines whenever he thinks it will get him some votes.
Well I’m not too thrilled with either of our Senators. Landrieu is only active in fighting for Louisiana when it’s not possibly politically risky, and she will only go just far enough not to risk losing a vote. That said, at least she does file bills for Louisianians.
Vitter has introduced almost no bills for the people of the state in his tenure. Instead he has introduced hundred of bills on behalf of various industries and companies. Most of them are bills or amendments excluding a certain company, product, or industry from regulations meant to protect the people of our state. Basically he works for the people who write his paycheck, and by that I mean contributors to his campaigns, not the people of Louisiana who are his true bosses.
Melancon has been better for Louisiana than either of our current Senators and even though he only represents one part of the state has done more for Cenla than our own two Representative have.
Plus, according to the dozen or so who took the polls, unlike Vitter, apparently Melancon answers emails!