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With Qualifying, Campaign Strategies Become Clearer

Those seeking the state’s highest offices are making their way to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office, today through Thursday. They’re paying fees and filing their qualifying documents for the October 24th primary.

That means the campaigns are about to bombard you with ads. Expect more of what we’ve already heard from John Bel Edwards, Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle. 

“We can do better but it’s going to take real leadership to put Louisiana first,” is one of Edwards’ catchphrases, while Dardenne likes to say, “Campaigns are about dividing people. Governing is about bringing people together.”

And Angelle closes every appearance with, “The last name is Angelle. It has two L’s. It stands for ‘loves Louisiana’.”

“Unfortunately, I think we’ll never be able to escape the platitudes of Louisiana politics,” Jeremy Alford of LaPolitics.com says of the already oft-repeated slogans.

Yet he predicts David Vitter will limit his public speaking as we head into the height of campaigning.

“There are some candidates who are going to go on lockdown here pretty soon: not participate in the forums, not giving open interviews to the reporters,” Alford says.

Vitter has already built a reputation for exclusivity, avoiding all debates and forums where the questions are not submitted in advance.

“The strategy is just to sit tight and hold what you have and hope that you don’t pick up any negative press,” Alford says of the state’s senior U.S. Senator.

Of course, with Congress reconvening this week, Vitter will need to be in Washington. And he’s got the funding to keep his image and voice filling the airwaves in his absence from the Louisiana campaign trail. His Super PAC has already begun the media blitz.

“A reformer with results: David Vitter for Governor,” say the Fund for Louisiana’s Future radio and TV ads playing on stations all across south Louisiana.

The ads the Super PAC is running in north Louisiana are already going negative on the other Republican contenders for governor.

“Two candidates, one big thing in common: Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle support higher taxes.”

Vitter, who has more campaign funds available than the other three contenders put together, is clearly counting on that money to control his message, yet still deliver it. The question is, will those ads be enough to offset Vitter’s inaccessibility?

Stay tuned.