Reply #4: IMHO

[AnnInLa]

"Louisiana has a Democrat for a Governor and yet went to Bush. I am curious about fringe issues that might create margins for a Democratic candidate."

I think an examination of your statement above is in order first...it is my personal opinion that Jindal did not get as much of the vote the repukes were hoping for because he is "foreign-looking." Believe it or not, there is still so much racial bias here. That factor and the "Cajun" factor....Cajuns voted for Blanco, one of their own. Local Catholic girl makes good. I'm not sure that the "gun" issue had alot to do with the Gov race at all.

A terrific wedge issue would be the environmental issue....Bush opened up nat'l forests for logging, Vitter wants to open up the wetlands for logging....so many hunters and fishers in LA who don't think of themselves as environmentalists, but certainly are not in favor of losing their hunting and fishing areas. CAFTA (sugar cane farmers) is another good wedge issue here in S. La.

I am of 2 minds about the gun control issue as an issue for Dems. On one hand, I am a staunch supporter of stringent gun control laws. On the other hand, many of my acquaintences actually believe that "Dems want to take away our guns." The NRA has done such a psychological number on the men...the guns represent their maleness, etc, ad nauseum. I think women are much likely to support the Dem position on gun control, because they are afraid of gun violence against themselves and their children. So, I can't decide if it would be better to support a Dem who was a strong anti-gun-control person or not. Better to reframe the argument as pro-hunting, and anti-crime, if you know what I mean.