In the 2016 US Senate race in Louisiana, in addition to a number of traditional candidates, there is a former klansman. I will not mention his name for reasons that will become clear below.
Many people have forgotten, but this is not his first run for US Senate. The former klansman, while he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, ran for US Senate in 1990 against US Senator Bennett Johnston. During that time, I was a member of Senator Johnston’s Congressional Staff. Louisiana politics and government service positions were my career before entering academia.
Due to my former professional position, I am very familiar with the former klansman. We have a history. I campaigned against him everyday for almost a year. I travelled to all sixty-four parishes in Louisiana with Senator Johnston during that campaign.
The racial climate in 1990 was much different than today. There was a great deal of racial tension in Louisiana. There were rural parishes in the state where my white congressional staff colleagues feared leaving me alone and insisted on body-guarding me so I would not get caught on the wrong rural road and be in danger.
In the final month of the campaign I had a brick thrown through my vehicle window, thrown from a pickup truck bearing a bumper sticker of our opponent. This brick came as I was departing the New Orleans Airport just after dropping Senator Johnston off.
I watched the former klansman speak to cheering clouds of thousands of people filling up large auditoriums. I watched him close-up whenever he appeared in any public forums with my candidate, Senator Johnston.
I even had a direct conversation with him. That conversation took place after the election was over at a reception for members of the Louisiana Legislature. That conversation was professional, polite, and brief.
So yes, I know this man well, and I have been in the trenches against him.
In 1990, given the racial climate in the state at the time, he was able to capture 44 percent of the vote in a losing effort. We captured 54 percent for a 10 point win.
Although that appears close, in US Senate elections, a double-digit victory is considered solid. We actually never lost any sleep thinking that the former klansman would win. Polling told us that his negatives were so high that he would hit a vote ceiling somewhere around 45 percent, and he did.
Fast forward to 2016. The racial climate is much better in Louisiana. In 1990, during an ideal climate for the former klansman, his ceiling was 45 percent. In the current climate, it is much lower than that.
Let me be clear about one thing: This former klansman will never hold a seat in the US Senate. Many people understand this. Let me be clear about another point that I think many people do not understand: He has no intention of ever holding a US Senate seat.
He does not run to win. He runs to raise money. His business is based on gaining publicity, increasing his mailing list, scheduling paid speeches, and, of course, selling his books. He has an international mailing list. It is so large, that I am on it. That’s right, I actually receive his literature at my home address. Obviously I never asked to be on it. I just showed up on a list he purchased. I’ve never bothered to be removed because I want his team to waste their postage.
By now, you have probably figured out why I do not mention his name. I refuse to help him increase his name recognition by helping him show up in internet search engines.
I refuse to do his PR work for him. I refuse to provide him my free labor. In addition to spending a year of my life campaigning in close quarters against him, watching him at every public forum, our campaign researched his business operation.
If I would publicly attack him on the internet, he would love it. It would give him the evidence he needs to fan the flames of racial hatred from his base. If I were to attack him by name, I would be doing his bidding, playing his game, growing his mailing list, raising money for him, and selling his books.
1990 was a very different time. My colleagues and I had no choice but to directly engage him because he influenced over 40 percent of the vote and we had to engage him to defeat him. Times have changed. He now influences perhaps 5 percent of the vote. Direct engagement is no longer required and might be counterproductive.
I am not telling others what to do. I understand others have valid reasons for publicly engaging him. I am simply saying that based on my direct experience with him, I will not give him the satisfaction of engaging him, and in doing so providing him with more free media.
If he wants media time, he should be required spend his money and buy it just like any other candidate.
I will close with this prediction: November 8th will come and go. The former klansman will not make it to the Senate runoff. The votes are simply not there.
As long as he is not provided any more free media, he will simply sink back into obscurity, where he belongs. Then, the remaining US Senate candidates can actually move on to discuss how they will improve the lives of the people in Louisiana.
Many people have forgotten, but this is not his first run for US Senate. The former klansman, while he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, ran for US Senate in 1990 against US Senator Bennett Johnston. During that time, I was a member of Senator Johnston’s Congressional Staff. Louisiana politics and government service positions were my career before entering academia.
Due to my former professional position, I am very familiar with the former klansman. We have a history. I campaigned against him everyday for almost a year. I travelled to all sixty-four parishes in Louisiana with Senator Johnston during that campaign.
The racial climate in 1990 was much different than today. There was a great deal of racial tension in Louisiana. There were rural parishes in the state where my white congressional staff colleagues feared leaving me alone and insisted on body-guarding me so I would not get caught on the wrong rural road and be in danger.
In the final month of the campaign I had a brick thrown through my vehicle window, thrown from a pickup truck bearing a bumper sticker of our opponent. This brick came as I was departing the New Orleans Airport just after dropping Senator Johnston off.
I watched the former klansman speak to cheering clouds of thousands of people filling up large auditoriums. I watched him close-up whenever he appeared in any public forums with my candidate, Senator Johnston.
I even had a direct conversation with him. That conversation took place after the election was over at a reception for members of the Louisiana Legislature. That conversation was professional, polite, and brief.
So yes, I know this man well, and I have been in the trenches against him.
In 1990, given the racial climate in the state at the time, he was able to capture 44 percent of the vote in a losing effort. We captured 54 percent for a 10 point win.
Although that appears close, in US Senate elections, a double-digit victory is considered solid. We actually never lost any sleep thinking that the former klansman would win. Polling told us that his negatives were so high that he would hit a vote ceiling somewhere around 45 percent, and he did.
Fast forward to 2016. The racial climate is much better in Louisiana. In 1990, during an ideal climate for the former klansman, his ceiling was 45 percent. In the current climate, it is much lower than that.
Let me be clear about one thing: This former klansman will never hold a seat in the US Senate. Many people understand this. Let me be clear about another point that I think many people do not understand: He has no intention of ever holding a US Senate seat.
He does not run to win. He runs to raise money. His business is based on gaining publicity, increasing his mailing list, scheduling paid speeches, and, of course, selling his books. He has an international mailing list. It is so large, that I am on it. That’s right, I actually receive his literature at my home address. Obviously I never asked to be on it. I just showed up on a list he purchased. I’ve never bothered to be removed because I want his team to waste their postage.
By now, you have probably figured out why I do not mention his name. I refuse to help him increase his name recognition by helping him show up in internet search engines.
I refuse to do his PR work for him. I refuse to provide him my free labor. In addition to spending a year of my life campaigning in close quarters against him, watching him at every public forum, our campaign researched his business operation.
If I would publicly attack him on the internet, he would love it. It would give him the evidence he needs to fan the flames of racial hatred from his base. If I were to attack him by name, I would be doing his bidding, playing his game, growing his mailing list, raising money for him, and selling his books.
1990 was a very different time. My colleagues and I had no choice but to directly engage him because he influenced over 40 percent of the vote and we had to engage him to defeat him. Times have changed. He now influences perhaps 5 percent of the vote. Direct engagement is no longer required and might be counterproductive.
I am not telling others what to do. I understand others have valid reasons for publicly engaging him. I am simply saying that based on my direct experience with him, I will not give him the satisfaction of engaging him, and in doing so providing him with more free media.
If he wants media time, he should be required spend his money and buy it just like any other candidate.
I will close with this prediction: November 8th will come and go. The former klansman will not make it to the Senate runoff. The votes are simply not there.
As long as he is not provided any more free media, he will simply sink back into obscurity, where he belongs. Then, the remaining US Senate candidates can actually move on to discuss how they will improve the lives of the people in Louisiana.