Mayor Mitch Landrieu

[History505]

What did you think of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's speech on the removal of the Confederate Flag? Was this speech the laying of a potential presidential bid since he is considered a possible candidate?

[Kingpoleon]

Not quite enough experience for President. He would make a great running mate for Stacey Abrams, Julian Castro, or frontrunner Jason Kander, though.

[publicunofficial]

Either he did it because he wants national attention (Certainly won't help him with any statewide runs) or he's actually a solid person doing  the right thing to do (Taking every confederate monument and melting them down to make nicer toilets at refugee holding centers)

[TDAS04]

He's smart enough to know he isn't experienced enough at this time to be President or Vice President.

[Bidenworth2020]

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Mitch Landrieu declined the run for Gov last year, so he won't have any name recognition to use as a pedestal to national office.

I predict Cory Booker or some other nat'l democrat to win the nomination.

[Suburbia]

He couldnt get elected dog catcher anywhere outside of New Orleans

Why?

[BuckeyeNut]

Landrieu would be a nice pick for a future Democratic administration. HUD, perhaps?

[Rookie Yinzer]

^ Agreed. The most he can hope for on the national level is an appointment in an upcoming Democratic administration.

[ReaganLimbaugh]

He couldnt get elected dog catcher anywhere outside of New Orleans

Excellent point

[Mister Mets]

He has a bit of a weird background in that he has won statewide office (albeit not major office) twice in a conservative state, before being a mayor of a city dealing with the aftermath of a major crisis.

He'll be out of office, so he won't have the restrictions others might. The big question might be would be why people would be interested in him and not someone who would reflect the diversity of the country, and/ or have accomplishments as Senator or Governor under their belt.

[Fuzzy Bear]

His speech was pure pandering.  Now if John Bel Edwards made it, I'd think differently.  But Landrieu is a white mayor of a heavily black city, so his actions are in the category of responding to citizen complaints.

I am of two minds on this.  My wife and sons are direct descendants of Gen. John Bell Hood (although she's a native Michigander and her "Southernness" is from life in modern Florida amongst transplants and retirees), and his image is carved on Stone Mountain.  (Truthfully, his poor judgement in 1864 resulted in Union victories that made it impossible for the South to win the war and heartened northern voters to where Lincoln came from behind to win the 1864 election and scotch the possibility of some sort of negotiated peace.)  On the other hand, I can see how offensive these monuments are to black folks, and especially black folks in a predominantly black city.  As a local matter, I can understand blacks saying "We don't want this crap here!"  On the other hand, one of the things that made it easier for North and South to reconcile was the agreement that both sides would be able to honor their war dead; indeed, Union and Confederate vets got together in years after the war at gatherings to where each honored the others' war dead.  (Of course, I can understand why blacks would be offended by this as well; they were pretty much told that they didn't count in any of the reconciliation process, and they'd just have to live with what white folks came up with.)

I'm not a Confederate Flag guy, but the issue is complicated.  My view on Landrieu's speech is that he poured gasoline on a fire when he didn't need to.  It's too late now; it's a fait accompli.  But I'm sure there will be a number of white working class folks who need the Democratic Party to be the Democratic Party on issues of healthcare and job safety that will be turned off by this display of pandering that really didn't accomplish anything constructive when you really think about it.