Angh "Joseph" Cao's victory in the Louisiana 2nd Congressional District special election on Saturday was certainly welcome. It was a GOP pickup, of which there have not been many lately. It sent a virulently corrupt politician home, far away from the public trust he has abused for his own personal profit. And, adding to a year of barrier-breaking, it was the first instance of a Vietnamese-American winning election to the U.S. Congress.
Some grains of salt must be retained though. It was a special election with pathetic turnout. Had it occurred on Nov. 4 – with massive black turnout in a preponderantly black district – the result would have been different. And because it is such a Democratic district the national environment for Republicans is going to have to improve significantly for Cao to stand any chance of reelection in '10.
Nevertheless, I do agree with Patrick Ruffini. "In crafting our 435 district strategy, the lesson is that we don't need to run risk-averse politicians in longshot seats. We need to run everyday heroes like Cao. We need to identify people outside politics who've done things in the community and who can capitalize on the incumbents' mistakes."
The types of candidates Republicans should seek to run under our banner are local heroes. They're the people who didn't run for office once they were out of the cradle and haven't spent their entire adulthood working in government. They're regular folks. They've worked hard, overcome obstacles, and achieved in the private sector. Such individuals and candidates do not simply articulate conservative values and principles, they personify them. That is a verbatim description of Joseph Cao, and we should seek out more variations of him. As Ruffini points out, "Every district has a Joseph Cao."
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