Reply #7: This depends on how many reasons there are to vote for them.

[flaminbats]

My fear with Chris John is that he is far to eager to please the right. A Democrat can win conservatives without abandoning morality and his base. Remember it was angry conservative Democrats who elected Chris John because they were pissed off at Jimmy Hayes for switching parties.

I saw this occur with Zell Miller in 2000. As Lt. Governor he was always the devil of the right, and as Governor the neocons made every attempt to discredit him and to defeat him. But moderates and Democrats stood by him. Then in his race for the Senate he began actively courting the supporters of Paul Coverdell. Most Democrats didn't worry about it because they felt he would always be true to his principles and were desperate for a winner. But in the Senate he took every opportunity he had to attack his own party, to assist in the promotion of Republican candidates, and to disenfranchise those who elected him to the Senate in the first place. Even the Republican leadership couldn't support Zell's insane Constitutional Amendment!

I have seen many southern Democrats begin with moderate voting records, and shift over the years toward right-wing extremism. And these are always the ones who either switch parties or burn the very bridges which make solutions possible on policy matters. John Breaux, on the other hand, is a conservative who has tried to keep these bridges intact. Breaux will not destroy a chance for healthcare reform or improving Social Security just so he can increase his campaign contributions or margin of victory. And I hope that this is the type of candidate Democrats in Lousiana will be supporting for the Senate.