What’s it like out on the campaign trail? Over the next couple of months, I’ll be checking that out with candidates for governor. First up is Democrat John Bel Edwards. I caught up with him just past the midpoint of last week’s statewide tour, and traveled with his caravan around DeRidder and up to Leesville.
Unlike David Vitter, Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle -- who have held statewide posts – it’s a constant round of introductions.
“Lettin’ us know who you are?” asked a barber in DeRidder.
“I’m known more than you might think,” Edwards replied, “But I’ve got the most room to grow.”
Having already garnered the endorsements of the state’s two largest teachers’ unions, Edwards was also proudly introducing his wife, Donna.
“She’s a public school teacher over there in Tangipahoa Parish.”
Nor was Edwards shying away from the “D” after his name.
“If they think party is what’s going to drive them to vote, ask them if they’re satisfied with what they’ve been getting,” he urged supporters at one of the campaign stops.
On his campaign bus, in between doing telephone interviews with local radio stations, I asked what he’s learned thus far. He said what struck him most was a question asked the night before, in Lake Charles.
“An 88-year-old retired schoolteacher had driven up from the coast,” he said, “And she asked me, ‘Mr. Edwards, please tell me that you’re going to make sure that the money we get for coastal restoration is going to be spent on coastal restoration’.”
Edwards said he’s been pondering that question, and what it says about voters’ trust in state government. First – in light of the current administration’s frequent maneuver of putting “one-time money” into the Coastal Protection Fund, and taking it out again as “recurring revenue”—he feels this is confirmation that branding himself as the “anti-Jindal” candidate is the right tactic.
But, he says. it also serves as a reminder that lawmakers have surrendered much of their power to the executive branch. He used the Legislature opting out of the constitutionally-required veto-override session every year as an example.
“Even if you don’t -- in every case -- vote to override a veto, we should go back in and give serious consideration to it,” Edwards stated. “It’s part of our obligation to the people of Louisiana to exercise the authority that the Constitution affords us.”
And, while he might not like the results as governor, if elected, Edwards said he would encourage the legislature to be independent.