Three of the four leading candidates for governor came to answer questions from the Baton Rouge Press Club Monday. That left the door open for sniping at David Vitter.
“Let me address just briefly the elephant not in the room, who has chosen not to come, not to answer any questions, not to confront the issues today,” Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne began. “I think it’s a foreshadowing of what may happen if we had another governor who’s going to avoid the press, and who’s not going to be willing to answer questions and talk to people every day.”
Dardenne has not shied away from taking verbal shots at Vitter, and over the weekend the Vitter campaign fired back with a TV ad asking, “How liberal is Jay Dardenne?”
The Vitter campaign also launched an ad that states, “Scott Angelle has a lot in common with Obama.”
Asked about the attack ads, Angelle said, “We all know you don’t get attacked unless you’re right on somebody’s heels, so I want to thank David for doing that. I expect more of it, and I’m looking forward to responding.”
“Senator Vitter seems to be attacking me and Commissioner Angelle, and not going after John Bel very much,” Dardenne observed. “We know who David Vitter wants in the runoff.”
“All I’ll say is I’m glad it’s you, and you,” John Bel Edwards commented, nodding to Angelle and Dardenne in turn.
Earlier in the forum, Edwards had publicly noted the presence of a videographer, Josh, who works as a “tracker” for Vitter’s Super PAC, the Fund for Louisiana’s Future. Josh has been filming Edwards and Dardenne and Angelle since early spring, following them at every possible public event.
“But it’ll be me soon enough,” Edwards continued, referring to the attack ads. “I suspect Senator Vitter’s still looking for something to attack me on.”
Angelle had previously made it a point of honor not to attack any of the competitors, but he showed a different side Monday. Not only did Angelle bring up several examples of Vitter’s voting record while serving in the state Legislature, but Angelle had the quote of the day:
“I’m not running because David’s been wrong on fornication. I’m running because David’s wrong on education, on medication, on transportation, and on litigation.”