Maginnis: Gimmick issues won't win election

Published Jul 24, 2012 at 2:00 pm (Updated Jul 24, 2012)

To succeed at getting elected, a candidate needs to stay on message, to respond when attacked and—when there is nothing left to say—to change the subject. Congressman Jeff Landry adroitly did the latter recently when he called on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to eliminate an academic minor in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies.
By doing so, he ripped the headlines away from rival Congressman Charles Boustany, his fellow Republican opponent this fall in the newly merged 3rd District. Boustany had just introduced legislation to deduct pay from members who fail to show for roll-call votes. It comes as no surprise that Landry has missed 10% of votes this year to the author's 1%.
Landry responded gamely, wishing that Boustany "had been absent the times he voted to raise the debt ceiling, bail out banks, and allow his salary to increase." Good, but not enough, so the next day he was back in the news telling colleges what not to teach. Read the full column here.

(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)