Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) made something of a splash last week when she said that the South isn’t always the “friendliest place” for blacks. But Edwin Edwards (D), the colorful ex-governor who spent time in prison and is now running for Congress, seemed to bristle a bit at Landrieu’s comments in an interview with TPM.
Specifically, Landrieu told NBC News that the “South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans. It’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader.”
Edwards told TPM on Saturday that Louisiana is “a rather liberal state in racial nations and there always will be some people who have problem with people of a different race — Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, what have you,” but “by and large people will accept a person based upon his policies and performance.”
“Now look, I’ll be honest,” Edwards continued, “I’m sure there are some people who don’t like [President Barack Obama] and never will because he’s black. But I don’t think that’s a significant amount.”
Edwards’ comments came in a wide ranging interview just a few days before Election Day. Edwards, the former congressman, former governor, former convicted felon, and (for a short time) main character in a reality TV show, is running in the open “jungle” primary for Rep. Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) congressional seat. Cassidy is running against Landrieu in the race for U.S. Senate.
The seat drew about a dozen of contenders, most of whom are Republicans, in the heavily Republican district. Under state law, felons can’t run for statewide office until 15 years after they’ve been out of prison, so Edwards, 87, has opted for the next best thing: trying to come back to the House of Representatives.
Edwards is widely expected to make the runoff and face one of four Republicans also running for Louisiana’s sixth congressional district: state Sen. Dan Claitor (R), Paul Dietzel, Lenar Whitney, or Garret Graves. But in speaking to TPM, the former governor wouldn’t say who he expected to face or who he would prefer.
“IfI designate one of them, it might affect this campaign for good or bad and I just don’t want to do that,” Edwards said. He did, however, stress that he’s ready for the runoff.
“I have the background material and information I need to face any of these candidates in the runoff and I’m prepared for it. That’s my style,” Edwards said.
Robert Mann, a political columnist and LSU journalism professor expressed doubt over Edwards’ chances to the Associated Press recently, “The only chance he has of getting elected is if whoever he gets in the runoff with drops dead of a heart attack or gets struck by lightning.”
It’s actually a somewhat similar situation to Landrieu, who is expected to make it to a runoff against Cassidy and then could lose in the head-to-head contest. Landrieu’s race is one of the seats Republicans need to take control of the Senate. Edwards, ever the Democrat, refused to echo forecasters’ prediction that the GOP would likely win control of the Senate. If the GOP did move into the majority, that might actually be good for Democrats in the long run, Edwards said.
“If the Republicans take over the Senate, we will see the beginning of a movement back to what is the middle ground,” Edwards said.
Ed needs a hobby.
He is a hobby…lol
What hubris! How can any white person really know what racism is like?
And especially how can any old white privileged guy know about how
much racism is around him. People like this Neanderthal have lived in
their racist bubble their whole life (as did all their ancestors) and so
even though they are surrounded by rampant racism every day it’s
so much a part of their existence they don’t even see it or recognize it.
Actually, what Landrieu said is a gross understatement. I’m a female,
southern WASP and even though I know I can’t really know the full
extent of racism as the victims do, I can guarantee you that racism
is alive and well. The only difference I see now is that the bigots
have become emboldened to say out loud and in public the things
they usually say only with others of their kind.
Racism is the elephant in the room in every political discussion in
the south. No one wants to talk about it, let alone admit how
prevalent it is, yet it hides in the back of the room and stymies any
real discussions that would lead to it’s destruction.
You can’t fight something that no one admits exists. Edwards and
other white privileged folks can’t admit racism exists because then they
might have to do something about it. So they go to church every
Sunday and say they are Christians while they hold non-white
children of God under their heel. Yes, it’s more of a velvet heel then
it once was, but it’s still oppression.
Edwards, the former congressman, former governor, former convicted felon
Note to editor: he still is a convicted felon. Also:
Edwards told TPM on Saturday that Louisiana is “a rather liberal state in racial nations…”
WTF does this even mean? Is that supposed to be “notions”? Still weird but at least it would make some sort of sense.