Who'd have ever thought you'd find the Tea Party, Gov. Bobby Jindal (La.), U.S. House Majority Leader Cantor and the guys from Duck Dynasty dueling in a Louisiana election? It happened yesterday.
The winner is, Duck Dynasty. Well, to be more specific, their backed candidate, Republican businessman Vance McAllister. He's a political newcomer who boasts of never having visited Washington, D.C., yet won a special election in Louisiana on Saturday to fill the congressional seat formerly held by fellow Republican Rodney Alexander.
The man McAllister beat was a fellow Republican, Neil Riser, the Tea Party candidate.
McAllister, running as an outsider, lined up an endorsement from "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, the patriarch in the popular reality show, and cast member Willie Robertson appeared in a commercial for the candidate. The program is shot in the northeast part of Louisiana that McAllister will represent.
Unlike McAllister, Riser had the backing of a number of prominent Republicans including U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
What could have been the deciding issue might have been this:
Riser agreed with the governor's stance to reject the Medicaid expansion.
As a state senator, Riser authored a Louisiana constitutional amendment requiring any state gun restrictions to pass the "strict scrutiny" test. The funeral home owner was the contest's early favorite with backing from the conservative Tea Party of Louisiana and the national group FreedomWorks, which is aligned with the Tea Party movement.
So it looks like "Digger" Riser wasn't as popular as an unknown moderate like McAllister. Even with FreedomWorks and the Tea Party's money, the Republicans in Louisiana aren't falling for the right-wing, extremist crap. Louisiana spoke, and they said they want health care subsidies and they believe in sane gun control.
You go,Louisiana. You just sent shock waves through the Republican party. Are you feeling them yet, Reince Priebus?
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