William Jefferson

Saturday is the Louisiana runoff election. There are two races still outstanding: the 4th Congressional district in the Western part of the state where John Fleming is fighting to hold on to Jim McCrery's conservative seat. And the 2nd, in the heart of New Orleans.

Normally, we wouldn't have a prayer in LA-2. Except for one thing: the incumbent is Wiliam "Freezer Cash" Jefferson. And recent polling shows Republican Joseph Cao actually has a chance to knock off Jefferson. An internal Republican poll shows Cao leading Jefferson 50-35, with Jefferson at 60 percent unfavorables (significant because Jefferson retains a base of support in the African American community). Quin Hillyer has been tracking this race for the Spectator.

This is Exhibit A of why we need a 435 district strategy. Yes, we need to be focused on our traditional targets. We saw how replacing Woody Jenkins with Bill Cassidy made all the difference in LA-6. But we can't be playing defense all the time. Congressional races can be surprisingly nonpartisan if the incumbent is corrupt or has other liabilities. We can pick off 60-40 and 70-30 Democrat seats if we focus on getting the right candidates with some level of professional staffing. (And I wouldn't be surprised if LA-2 wound up being even more lopsided than that.)

If you want to prove we can prevail in the bluest seat in Louisiana and show the world that Obama doesn't have coattails, we need to be supporting guys like Joseph Cao.