Politico: Can John Bel Edwards Teach Democrats How to Win in the South?

[Tancred]

Interesting article from Politico profiling Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and discussing whether he might be a model for other Democrats trying to win in the South.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/02/john-bel-edwards-southern-democrats-215570

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Run against Republicans who have solicited prostitutes.

[pbrower2a]

Run against Republicans who have solicited prostitutes.

And even if there was irrefutable proof Trump did this, he'd still sweep most of the South in 2020 just like in 2016.

I'm not sure. You can inflict only so much pain until you must resort to personal terror or electoral fraud before losing elections. We may have just seen the peak of the GOP in the South.

[Virginiá]

Run against Republicans who have solicited prostitutes.

And even if there was irrefutable proof Trump did this, he'd still sweep most of the South in 2020 just like in 2016.

Probably, but what was there to hit Edwards with in return? The thing about Hillary was that no matter how bad Trump was, or what new scandal he found himself embroiled in, it was always so easy for him to remind his voters how awful Clinton was.

Plus, presidential politics seems notably more polarized than state-level affairs.

[NEW JERSEY FOR MENENDEZ]

Straight from his Wikipedia page:

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[Maxwell]

John Bel Edwards ran a very solid campaign, though he was very obviously helped by the fact that David Vitter solicited prostitutes and was connected to single digit approval rating Governor Bobby Jindal.

But I think there is a lesson here - that the hard right GOP agenda, taken to its fullest extent, is extremely unpopular. Take a look at Sam Brownback, Mary Fallin, Bobby Jindal - three figures who took supply side thinking too far and bankrupted their states. Brownback almost lost re-election in a Republican banner year and is still remarkably unpopular (may have gotten even less popular), Democrats are winning special elections left and right in Oklahoma.

I think talented Democrats have been hiding in these states because they recognize how much of a slog it is just to get elected in the South. But I think more talented candidates along the lines of a John Bel Edwards or even a Paul Davis are going to rise to challenge the GOP in several Southern/Midwestern states.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

You can't teach those who are unwilling to learn.

[Blair]

Wasn't it the fatal combination of Jindal being extremely unpopular, crashing the state economy and Vitter himself having a host of personal problems.

I can't remember the names of the other republicans running, but I assumed that they would have beaten John Bel Edwards.

But yes the lesson is pretty clear; recruit candidates good backgrounds and who also know how to tell a story, and deliver a message

[PragmaticPopulist]

I'd welcome more John Bel Edwards-like candidates in the south. I think he won less because of Vitter's prostitution ring and more because he ran an excellent campaign, considering that Trump still won even with all his personal baggage. Vitter also wasn't a very good campaigner.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Straight from his Wikipedia page:

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Everyone in LA except the Landrieus and a few liberal hippies in New Orleans is pro-life and pro-gun. Obviously the national party wouldn't nominate him for President or Vice President, but he's your standard LA democrat and there's nothing particularly remarkable about any of his views.

[Adam Griffin]

JBE was incredibly lucky for the most part.

He got to run against a scandal-plagued candidate nobody liked and an awfully-unpopular Governor of the same party, and was fortunate to be in one of the more elastic Southern states with some semblance of Democratic voting tendencies (even Landrieu, seeking re-election to federal office, got 45% in a GOP wave year).

At the beginning of JBE's campaign, nobody took him seriously - even in Louisiana. There's an article out there (maybe it was even Politico) detailed just how much of a joke campaign his was in the beginning with respect to people thinking he had a snowball's chance.

What he did can't necessarily be replicated throughout most of the South.

[Devout Centrist]

--get lucky

Seriously guys, it's not like the Democrats are running pro-choice transgender lesbians in Alabama and that's why they keep losing.

[Coraxion]

You can't teach those who are unwilling to learn.

The subject is how Democrats can win statewide elections in the South, not Trumpism.

[DrScholl]

His opponents unpopularity played a part, but the number Jindal did on the state was the most help. He was a good candidate, but being a good candidate isn't all that it takes to win, it takes favorable conditions that can result in turnover.

[Zioneer]

--get lucky

Seriously guys, it's not like the Democrats are running pro-choice transgender lesbians in Alabama and that's why they keep losing.

Well, the Utah Democratic Party ran a pro-choice transgender grocery store clerk for Senate in Utah. And a guy for governor who fund-raised off of a musical making fun of Mormonism (with the donation levels "First Wife, Second Wife, Third Wife").

Before that we ran a two-star Army Reserve general who was great on paper but terrible in practice and a retread of the 2000 Senate race for the gubernatorial and senate elections respectively.

Before that we ran a random businessman and the then-Salt Lake County Mayor.

I mean, we're losing both because of the quality of our candidates and the sheer Republican-ness of Utah.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

Lol Politico.

[Catholics vs. Convicts]

If only...

JBE is perfect for the South, but I think he had a bit of luck on his side, and I don't think candidates in other southern states will be as lucky. He will be one of a kind for the foreseeable future.