Why Edwards Defeated Vitter

Yesterday John Bed Edwards won the gubernatorial race in Louisiana, and here's why.  Edwards successfully painted himself as a conservative, just like his opponent David Vitter.  Informed conservatives were not fooled.  All we needed to hear was that he was an Obama-supporter.  But Edwards was able to convince enough voters that the only difference between him and Vitter was one of character, not ideology:  Edwards was sold as a West Point graduate, a man of character who could be trusted.  Vitter was presented as a man who cheated on his wife and visited prostitutes, and he could not be trusted.  Vitter's past "indiscretions" are significant, and Edwards was smart enough to keep them in the spotlight.  Many republican voters are still asking, "Was Vitter really the best we could do?"  Still, Vitter was clobbered not because of his moral failures but because he allowed Edwards to dictate the rules of the game and make it about personality rather than ideology.  Vitter failed to clearly distinguish himself as the true conservative.  He wasn't able to explain why he was the clear choice for pro-life, pro-gun, pro-marriage, pro-family, and religious liberty and limited government advocates.  That's too bad.  Social and fiscal conservatives are going to miss having one of our own in the driver's seat, preventing the state from running off the highway of freedom and into the ditch of socialism.  

In a way this is good news for Louisiana.  If a liberal has to pretend to be a conservative in order to get elected, then at least we know the election results don't mean that our state is moving to the left -- not on purpose, anyway.  On the other hand, this election is a reminder of how uninformed and uneducated the average voter is.  Most people don't vote.  And most who do vote are swayed by personality and TV ads.  What else could account for a state electing a strong conservative like Bobby Jindal and then turning around and voting for an Obama-supporting Democrat? 

All I can say now is that I hope Edwards is as conservative as he claims to be.  Either that or it is going to be a long four years.