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Cajun Campaign Finance "Reform"
By Mike Bayham
March 28, 2002

Now that the standard of John McCain's presidential campaign (and self-made political legacy) will soon become the law of the land, some states may have to make amendments to their own election laws to balance out the changes. Louisiana, always on the threshold of political innovation...please don't laugh, has decided to follow through in the spirit of the new campaign legislation in its own special way.

A bill was introduced for the Louisiana Legislature's Special Session pertaining to campaign "reform." In theory this legislation would affect all of Louisiana's 7 members of the US House of Representatives and our two US Senators, the reality of it is that it will only impact one of the nine. The unofficial name of the legislation should be the "screw David Vitter act" because that is what it precisely does.

The matter of congressmen using their Federal campaign warchests in state elections was never discussed until Congressman Vitter a) vehemently disagreed with Governor Mike Foster on the Jena casino compact and b) dropped hints that he might make a bid to succeed Foster in 2003. Since the public tiff between the state's top registered Republican and the Jefferson Parish congressman, this issue has become so important that it is one of only 199 pieces of legislation that will be considered at the session.

The timing of the bill is certainly suspect for the issue of congressmen competing on a statewide level is anything but new. Three of Louisiana's past 4 governors were former congressmen (Edwards, Treen, and Roemer). In 1987, three of the major contenders for governor were sitting congressmen (Roemer, Tauzin, and Livingston). In 1999 Governor Mike Foster was challenged for reelection by a congressman, Bill Jefferson, though he had little chance of winning.

And finally US Senator John Breaux had toyed with a possible run for Louisiana's top office...all the while not a single word was uttered about the need to prevent congressmen from using their congressional campaign treasuries in state races...at least until now.

It is apparent that this piece of legislation is more punitive than reform in nature. The manipulation of our laws for political and partisan purposes is a shameful act though regrettably, is not unprecedented. Several years ago, a Senate bill was introduced that altered the structure of the executive committee of the Louisiana Republican Party, an organization not affiliated with state government in any way, shape or form. Though the bill passed it was ruled unconstitutional.

Unlike the previously cited measure, it may very well be within in the right of the legislature to prevent Federal campaign money from being used in a state election. If the legislators supporting this measure are serious about enacting true campaign finance reform they would amend it so it does not go into effect till 2004, the year following the Louisiana governor election, instead of being used to settle a political vendetta.

Another option is to grandfather their accounts with the amount of money raised prior to 2003 as the limit they can spend on a state race.

Because the election is less than two years away, one can argue that we are already in the midst of the campaign cycle. Its adoption in the special session would basically change the rules of the election while much of the behind the scenes work is getting done. On the national level, the Federal legislation championed by Arizona US Senator John McCain stipulates that the new rules would not go into effect until the next election cycle. Even though I do not agree with the measure, I do respect the fact that a precaution has been taken to not change the rules in the middle of the "game."

Speaker Charles DeWitt, the author of the bill, lamented that he believes that it is unfair for a congressman to have a headstart over everyone else through their existing campaign funds. The scent of sour political grapes can be smelled from the one time potential congressional candidate.

The truth is that there is nothing that would prevent a legislator or anyone else from raising campaign money well in advance of their election. In fact, state legislators and statewide elected officials have the advantage of being up for reelection every four years while members of the US House are up every two years.

Because of the two term limit on our governorship, the people of Louisiana are assured of having new leadership (or at a minimum a new face) in the governor's mansion come 2004. There are several prominent Republicans taking a hard look at making a run, including former Governor Dave Treen, Rep. Hunt Downer, Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell and Sen. Ken Hollis just to name a few. Three statewide elected officials (John Kennedy, Kathleen Blanco, and Richard Ieyoub) are also contemplating gubernatorial bids on the Democratic side. However, the only serious candidate that is a congressman is David Vitter.

David Vitter is arguably one of the most aggressive politicians in the state and he undeniably brings upon himself much of the political flak that is aimed towards him. However, I am certain that the Rhodes scholar congressman is smart enough to realize the political consequences of his actions. While I recognize that Congressman Vitter's adversaries have the right to oppose him, and I do not have a doubt in my mind they will, they should exercise their dissent and opposition by playing by the rules instead of changing them.