'The Roving Reporter' : Louisiana State Senator Mary Landrieu's Campaign

Dear Friends and readers , we are adding a new feature to our blogs , entertainment and news from around the cities of Louisiana , mostly what's going on in North Louisiana in the arts, music and casinos.

You are familiar with our 'Roving Reporter , he writes food for thought on Wandering Brook and Maxy's Hideout as the 'Proud grandpoppa ... G.'

So  here's our Roving reporter with his  first post  .
BATON ROUGE – Former President Bill Clinton praised U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s work for Louisiana but stressed to supporters at a rally that if they don’t vote and get others to vote for her, she could lose this race.


Landrieu’s campaign is counting on Clinton’s support adding a boost and prompting voters to head to the polls prior to the Nov. 4 election with the opening of early voting.

Having a rally is "all very nice but it won’t amount to a hill of beans if you don’t vote," Clinton told a crowd of Landrieu supporters.

The rally focused on Landrieu’s efforts to improve health care, ease the burden of paying off student loans by allowing graduates to refinance them like any other loan, bring more offshore oil production to the state and restore coastal areas after being devastated by hurricanes.

Clinton said after watching Landrieu’s actions in the Senate while he was president, he knows "She’s going to do the right thing. I saw her fight for 10 years to get revenues from offshore" oil production.

While Republicans paint her as toeing the Democratic Party line, Clinton said she is "one of the most bipartisan and one of the 10 most effective senators."

Performance-wise, "she should be winning this race 10-to-15 percent except for the situation we’re in," he said.

Political forecasters have predicted rough seas for Landrieu as she seeks re-election in a highly conservative state, even though the Democratic Party still leads in voter registration.

Both parties are pouring large sums of money into television advertising.

Republican challengers U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy and retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness are pushing Landrieu’s support of most of President Barack Obama’s policies as a reason to oust her. They’re counting on Obama’s unpopularity in the state to sway voters against her.

Landrieu is pushing her rise to powerful positions in the Senate that can help the state as a reason to keep her.

Ben Voelkel, spokesman for the National Republican Committee said "Bringing President Clinton to town only underscores how much Mary Landrieu has swung to the liberal end of the Democrat party, as her support of President Obama’s policies 97 percent of the time demonstrate. Landrieu’s rock solid support for President Obama shows that his agenda is her agenda, and Louisiana voters can see through today’s misdirection."

Among those in the crowd to hear Landrieu and Clinton was Mike Belcher, a Baton Rouge Republican who believes his party has gone "way too far out of line" in its fight to unseat Landrieu.

"Frankly, I’m not too happy with her opponents" and "she holds seats on committees we don’t want to lose," he said.

Your 'Roving Reporter'     G.