The following [3] underlines the importance of the Republican Party actually contesting as many seats as possible at all levels...
Nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has been battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years, lost his bid for re-election on Saturday.
Republican challenger Anh "Joseph" Cao, an attorney and community organizer, defeated Jefferson in the 2nd Congressional district race. He will become the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Cao had almost 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson's 47 percent.
The 2nd Congressional district, in and around New Orleans, is mostly African-American and heavily Democratic, and Jefferson appeared to be favored to win re-election going into the election.
"The people of the second district were able to transcend party, transcend race," Cao said after claiming victory Saturday night. ...
Jefferson has pleaded not guilty to 16 criminal counts of racketeering, bribery, money laundering and obstruction of justice. He denies any wrongdoing.
In 2005, Jefferson's private homes in Washington and New Orleans were raided, and FBI agents say they found $90,000 in cash stashed in one of his freezers.
Officials say the money was part of a payment in marked bills from an FBI informant in a transaction captured on videotape. Jefferson [4] also is accused of soliciting and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for himself and his family in exchange for promoting their products and services to countries in Africa.
Yes, yes...the Republican won because the Democrat was tainted with scandal, but that's not the point here. The point is that this win would not have been possible, scandal or no, if the Republicans didn't actually have a candidate in the race. Truth be known, if there was no scandal, the Republican probably would not have run.
But you never know what can happen in politics....scandals, (real or faux), slack fundraising...overconfident incumbents, bad luck with the top of the ticket, etc... And you can't get lucky if you're not on the ballot. Meaning the Republican Party needs to do a better job fielding candidates EVERYWHERE. Even where they usually don't or "can't" win.
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More: Michelle Malkin [5]
