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Traylor is our choice
Like their counterparts in the state Democratic Party, Louisiana Republicans will go to the polls Aug. 28 to participate in a party primary election ahead of this fall's U.S. Senate race.
A run-off election in picking the Republican nominee, if needed, will be held Oct. 2. The winner of the Republican nomination will face the Democratic Party's nominee in the Nov. 2 general election.
Embattled U.S. Sen. David Vitter is seeking the Republican nomination to stand as the GOP's official candidate in the general election in November. Vitter is in the hunt for his second term in the Senate.
Vitter was first elected to the Senate in 2004. He rode into office on the coattails of then-President George W. Bush, who was easily re-elected to a second term that year.
Though he once had a bright future ahead of him in the Congress, Vitter's career in politics fell apart some three years ago when he was identified as a customer of a call girl service in Washington. Vitter accepted responsibility for his indiscretions, and his wife apparently forgave him.
Though Vitter's diehard supporters stood by him, the call girl scandal cost Vitter his credibility on Capitol Hill. Anyone who knows anything about the ways of Washington knows well that a member of the Congress can accomplish very little if he loses his credibility.
Such was and remains the case for Vitter.
A couple of weeks ago, one of Vitter's key aides resigned abruptly after ABC News reported (accurately) that the aide, Brent Furer, plead guilty in 2008 to three misdemeanor charges stemming from an altercation with his girlfriend. According to Washington police, Furer physically harmed his girlfriend and threatened to kill her. We also learned from ABC News that Furer had a warrant out for his arrest on a DWI charge.
Ironically, but sadly, Furer handled women's issues for Vitter's office.
It is not our intention to revisit Vitter's mistakes as a means to follow the lead of the out-of-touch media elite in condemning Vitter at every turn. We will not engage in a rumor mongering campaign either by repeating allegations that another "scandal" involving Vitter's personal life will surface soon.
Instead, we encourage Louisiana Republicans to acknowledge that Vitter has evolved into a liability, and his nomination could very well hand this fall's Senate race to the presumptive Democratic nominee, Congressman Charlie Melancon. Simply put, we fear Vitter would be defeated by Melancon in the general election, and in the process, Louisiana would give President Barack Obama another vote he can count on when the Senate entertains Leftist legislation advocated by the Obama administration and the ultra-liberal leadership in the Congress.
Accordingly, we encourage Louisiana Republicans to move forward and nominate one of Vitter's challengers for the GOP nomination.
Our choice is Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, a former state Supreme Court justice.
A conservative Republican to the core, Traylor's career in public service dates to the 1960s when he served as a military police officer in the U.S. Army. He enlisted in the Army and was discharged honorably.
Following his stint in the Army, Traylor enrolled at then-Northeast Louisiana University where he earned a degree in government. While he was a student at NLU, Traylor worked as a Louisiana State Trooper.
After he obtained a law degree at Loyola in New Orleans, Traylor returned to northeastern Louisiana to serve as an assistant district attorney for the 5th Judicial District. Along the way, Traylor also worked as a criminal investigator.
In 1985, Traylor was elected judge in the 5th Judicial District of Franklin, Richland and West Carroll parishes. Eleven years later, Traylor was elected to the state Supreme Court. He retired from the Supreme Court last year to pursue a career in private practice.
As a member of the Supreme Court, Traylor was known as a conservative, pro-business jurist. He was known for being fair, too.
Perhaps, though, Traylor's tenure on the Supreme Court was forever marked by his majority opinion in State v. Smith in 2000, which confirmed the Louisiana Legislature had the right to regulate sodomy. In his ruling, Traylor held that the state Constitution very wisely created separate branches of government, and that it was unwise to manipulate the Constitution simply to satisfy an interest group that attempts to impose its views, or way of life, on the majority of the citizenry.
Traylor's writings in State v. Smith are a good reflection of Traylor's opinion on pretty much anything that matters today.
We agreed with him then, and we remain in concert with his conservative outlook on the role that government should play in our everyday lives.
Yet, it is worth remembering that this fall's U.S. Senate election is far bigger than Melancon or Traylor or Vitter.
The Senate election is about Louisiana and her future and the future of the country in general.
It is vitally important that Louisiana be represented by at least one conservative in the Senate who will represent the state's fairly conservative citizens while speaking out for millions of Americans who have voiced their displeasure with the direction to which Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress have taken the country.
That conservative is Chet Traylor. |
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