The second post in the Candidate Interview Series of the Shreveport-Bossier Tea Party, this interview features Lt. Governor Candidate Sammy Kershaw. The interview was conducted in Shreveport, Louisiana with SBTP Coordinating Team Members Evodna Springer and Matt Sciba. Also present was Kershaw campaign staffer, Amy Jones.
My opinion: In addition to serving on various boards and commissions, the Lieutenant Governor also serves as Commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. This has been the primary emphasis of the office in recent years.
Sammy Kershaw is uniquely fitted to serve in this capacity.He has also stated that if the Governor left office for any reason and he had to assume the governorship, he would call a special election to fill the position, and that he would not be a candidate for the office.
Read the complete interview at Vote the Record, it’s interesting and informative.
I'm going to support Sammy. I did not on his first time around for a couple of reasons.
ReplyDeleteBut this time I am. If we MUST have a LT Gov. position (one of the few things I think we disagree on), then it should be a non-political type...a real guy with no big personal ambitions.
I think Sammy is that kinda guy.
Of course, the perfect candidate for the party of "family values" and fiscal responsibility. A five-time divorced country singer currently under bankruptcy protection.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, your point is well made. And, well taken.
ReplyDeleteBut, what you are missing here is that the particular Office of LT. Governor is currently constructed for a showman. That is one reason that I swallowed HARD, and cast my first vote for a Dimocrap in about 30 years and voted for Mitch Landrieu last time.
He is just that. Great personality, and was obviously (at least in my mind) the kind of guy to "show off" to the rest of the country and attract tourists to visit our one of a kind piece of Americana.
That is the job of our LT. Gov. I do not see anyone in the race that could do that particular job any better than Kershaw. Like it or not, the nation perceives Louisiana as a bunch of dumb Coonasses that pick, grin, fiddle, and do nothing all day but redneckish work, eat coons, possums, nutria, swimps and crawfish...sleep around, and flunk every standardized test imaginable.
A guy like Sammy plays to that strength when it comes to the assigned duties of the Office.
As far as him being a Republican...the supposed party of "family values"...well every family has different values. Obviously. I certainly do not like the fact that he has been through so many chicks, and can't manage money. But, a guy that is loose with his own money would not necessarily be loose with the money of others.
Trust me. I have seen it firsthand. And, as far as the many marriages. Well...at least he got married to all of 'em. And, they were all chicks as far as I know.
Certainly Sammy has made some bad calls in his personal life. And, I will not defend any of them...that is up to him to do.
I'm just sick and freakin' tired of political climbers. Starting with Bobby, and on down the food chain through the muck of the great majority of our elected officials in Louisiana.
And, I was gonna say something else, but I can't remember what it was now. But it was really astoundingly profound. Really, it was.
At least the party of "family values" has some set of morals to shoot for. The other party proudly parade their gay-prostitute boyfriends, sleep with their interns and make jokes about it, oh, and little NPR darling molested her children and wins a hosting spot on a weekend show!
ReplyDeleteI'd much rather have standards, fail to meet them, and keep trying rather than have no standards at all.
I really like the fact that he wants the job because he has the connections that are suited to it. I like the fact that he has no desire to be governor, that's big, because there is no doubt that Dardenne, and probably Villere and Davis do have ambitions. Our current governor has somewhat soured us on ambition, his is very obvious.
ReplyDeleteAndy, regarding your comment that Kershaw "can't manage money", I would be surprised if you don't know at least one person who has been through divorce and had their personal finances wrecked as a result. I have met many.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the more important point in Kershaw's money management history is not his personal finances, but the fact that during his personal financial crisis, his business remained intact, his employees secure, and his budget balanced.
Anonymous, if you are without sin, feel free to cast that first stone.
Well, Evonda, you must be Ms. perfect, since you spend so much of your time casting stones at every public official in sight. I won't stop you from your judgmental nature, don't try and stop me from mine.
ReplyDeleteWonder if those left holding debts Kershaw escaped through bankruptcy share your high opinion of his business practices.
As for Democrats not having standards, that may well be true, but it's pretty clear Republicans -- like Vitter -- only pretend to have standards to get the useful idiots to support their campaigns.
Anonymous8:30
ReplyDeleteQuestioning the policies of elected officials can hardly be considered "throwing stones". They work for us, and they are charged to be good stewards of our money. Many of them have failed in that regard.
Your attack on Kershaw for the number of divorces only distracts from the fact that you can't intelligently argue the issues, only attack his character.
I'd rather have Kershaw, than Dardenne, a man who never met a tax he didn't like and who voted in support of taxpayer funded abortions.
Oh, and if you're a Villere fan, Villere made charges against Kershaw which he couldn't support with documentation.
ReplyDeleteAgain, it's pretty amazing. It's okay to attack elected officials, but not those who put themselves forward to run for public office. Y'all claim you're about family values, but you support someone who gets his jollies with a hooker and a five-time divorcee.
ReplyDeleteYou claim you're all about fiscal responsiblity, but then you support someone who bankrupted his own business.
Just looking for some standards. And by the way, there's an old saying that the proof is in the pudding. Why would one bother to discuss the issues, when it's clear that neither of these men live out the things they claim to support in their personal lives, why would one expect them to live out the promises they make in a campaign.
I'm sure the person that raised the "attacking the character" slogan was all in favor of doing that when it involved Bill Clinton. Now, Slick Willie helped y'all out by proceeding to lie about his affair, but you went after him for an affair and managed to get him to create a perjury trap sort of crime.
As soon as the Republicans and the Tea Party folks drop the pretense that they really care about moral issues and fiscal responsiblity -- because clearly if they did they wouldn't support Vitter and Kershaw -- then we can look at the issues. Right now your movement is based at its core on a lie, and that's got to be fixed first, once we find out what you're really after, then we can talk.
So who do you support?
ReplyDeleteJim, I can't answer for ol' Miss Anonymous, but I'm reckoning she's not supporting anybody.
ReplyDeleteJust throwing eggs.
Heh! I love that shot in the sidebar. Makes a fabulous point.
Anonymous 1:13.
ReplyDeleteCheck your facts.
Kershaw declared PRIVATE bankruptcy, and did NOT bankrupt his businesses.
You said it yourself, you're not interested in even discussing the issues. Therein is your problem. I would ask you who you would prefer to have in office, but a) you're not interested in the issues, and b) the only alternatives are a Obama's lapdog (Melancon), and a man who voted for taxpayer funded abortion (Dardenne).
But then to my knowledge, Melancon and Dardenne haven't gotten divorced or hired prostitutes etc., so they'd make better decisions on how to run the state/country.
Did Andy really say that Adam Sandler's character in the Waterboy was a stereotype that would be called one of Louisiana's strengths? And that Sammy has the ability to play to that stereotype, and for that he should be Lt. Governor?
ReplyDeleteWow, way to move Louisiana forward Andy.
As of right now, I know of two candidates that I've eliminated. Sammy, because the bankruptcy and the fact that being a country singer and playing festivals does not qualify you for anything above councilman. And Villere, because if there's anyone who fits the mold of slimy politician, it's him. His backroom deals as GOP leader make him more of a politician than any candidate. I've gotten that robo call from his Tea Party and I know he's behind it. He's no better than the rest.
Anon, I may have said those exact words that you put in my mouth. But, I can not confirm it, because I have never seen The Waterboy, and do not know who Adam Sandler is.
ReplyDeleteDumb hicks like me do not look at films (except for Deliverance which I watch at least twicet a week, or Slingblade which I no longer watch because I've rememberized it already), so I am ignurnt of the reference.
If I didn't know better, Andy, I'd think we were headed toward a Jay Dardenne campaign pitch here.
ReplyDeleteYou am is a smart feller, Jimbo.
ReplyDelete