Hope For NOLA

A little-known Republican attorney Joseph Cao has defeated U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) in Saturday's run-off election for the New Orleans-based district by a 50%-47% margin. Jefferson had been expected to win in what is considered one of the most Democratic districts in the country despite pending bribery charges against Jefferson. NRCC's Chairman Tom Cole was quick to congratulate Cole, but the national GOP did virtually nothing to help him win. Instead, Cole relied on grassroots support and the blogosphere to fuel his campaign. Gov. Jindal didn't endorse Cao until this past week, and the NRCC belatedly dumped a little more than $50,000 into his campaign. In both cases, it's what I refer to as "CYA" help. If you think the guy is going to win, jump on board and pretend you were there all along, sort of like what happened in last year's Indianapolis mayoral race with Greg Ballard. Cao will become the first Vietnamese-American to serve in Congress.