October 4th Races

Oyster's recommendations here. Eli's here. Also, if you haven't read Eli's scathing critique of the Times-Pic endorsements, please take the time to do so.

As far as endorsements go, I only have 2 really:

Percy Marchand for School Board.

Jim Harlan for Congress.

I kicked in $10 for each candidate, too. Here's my reasoning:

Percy Marchand knows what's up with the Facilities Master Plan. He is opposed to gigantic high schools that will give an inferior education to smaller schools with smaller class sizes. I also got to shake his hand at Rising Tide.

Jim Harlan is a Democrat running in a very conservative district. How he can be within striking distance of Steve Scalise is absolutely beyond me. I can't figure it out, but I've asked around and everyone I know in his district seems to hate him. No particular reason. They just think he's sleaze. If anyone knows why, I'd love to hear.

Harlan started out as an engineer working on alternative energy in the 70's. He's a successful venture capitalist and he understands that drilling has its place, but is far short of a comprehensive energy plan. He's also a Harvard School of Government graduate. He knows calculus (a duh thing for us engineers, but a big deal for a politician)! He has a hell of a resume. How can we let someone like this get away?

Past that, I'll give a mention to Amy LaFont (running for school board and one of the few candidates who showed up to Rising Tide).

I plan on voting for Capitelli for D.A. It's a two-horse race between him and Canizzaro and I'm sure either will do a good job there.

Unfortunately, I can't support Harlan with my vote. I've got to vote for someone in the less than impressive field for 2nd Congressional. I'm probably going to vote for James Carter. Yeah, he's weak, but he's probably going to avoid indictment in the near future and I got a chance to chat with him about crime mapping at a meeting at the Sound Cafe in the Bywater after Helen Hill's murder. If you haven't noticed, I like voting for people I've at least met. Politicians, get out there and shake some hands!

I do have one anti-endorsement:

I got a flyer from the Regular Democratic Organization of Louisiana. Now, I've been working my way through T. Harry William's Huey Long and I've been reading quite a bit about the "Old Regulars," the ultra-conservative political machine that dominated post-reconstruction New Orleans politics. Any candidate they endorse deserves to lose. I have no idea who is running the show there now (Huey Long broke their power up a long time ago), but it looks like they endorse some real stinkers this time and the sum total of the slate looks like it came from a landfill. Don't know who to vote for? Look up their endorsements and then vote for the other guy.