David Vitter: American Hero?
David Vitter: The Senator Who Wouldn't Be Blackmailed
By: Peter Egan
This blog began as a comment in response to the following post by @DavidCBell:
Whatever coward Jeff Sessions did that made him afraid to go after the deep state was worse than smoking pot.
My initial reaction was as follows: "Remember David Vitter? Same thing, only Vitter refused to be blackmailed."
I started to elaborate and by the time I was finished I realized I had written a blog, not a comment.
For the record, Minds made the image far bigger than it should have been. I played no role in that.
For what it's worth, I worked for David, so I have a unique perspective on this.
Everyone thinks David is a villain because he had an affair with a hooker (which he didn't pay for, FWIW). David never once backed down from his principles as a Senator, and a great Senator he was. He is a great man, and his "serious sin" (his words) has been forgiven.
David's modest home's address was and is listed in the phone book, as is his home phone number. That was the case the entire time he was a Congressman and Senator. He was as accessible an elected official as he possibly could be, and would personally help anyone - even a democrat single mom calling his office seeking information on how to register her kids for Medicaid so that they at least had some form of healthcare.
While he may have had his philosophical differences with the Medicaid program as it existed at the time, it was what it was, and his job was to take care of his constituents, including those who didn't vote for him. He did just that.
When I worked for him on his 2010 reelection campaign, if I was in the office I was the first person people would approach when they came into the campaign office and the first person with whom they'd speak if they called. I met a lot of interesting people when I was on desk duty (I was out in the field at least 50% of the time), including everyone from former Louisiana Governor Mike Foster to now Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser to poverty-stricken individuals who weren't even registered to vote.
Even though it was the campaign office (as opposed to the Senate office, where non-campaign related activities were supposed to take place), everyone who called or came through that door was taken care of. I never saw anyone visit the office or call and leave dissatisfied. That includes people who called with the intent of berating the Senator. He'd ask that those calls be sent directly to him, and within five minutes he'd turn his biggest detractors into his biggest supporters.
He never allowed the Deep State, the Illuminati or whatever you want to call the entity and the people who control a number of elected officials in Washington, including virtually everyone in leadership of both parties, Scalise (House Whip Steve Scalise, R-LA) being the lone exception at present. Interestingly enough, Scaclise was elected to the same district that first elected David to go to Washington. Bobby Jindal, former Governor and Presidential Candidate held the seat in-between the time Vitter stepped down to run for Senate and the time Scalise was elected (when Jindal stepped down to run for Governor).
The bottom line is that none of us are without sin. The news media, which I think we can all agree are deceptive hypocrites, vilified him. Matt Lauer (who's had affairs with pretty much every woman he's ever worked with) talking about Vitter's name being leaked was the epitome of hypocrisy.
Yes, David sinned. However he admitted his sin and asked for forgiveness.
In spite of his personal shortcomings that one fateful night while he was just a young Congressman, naive to the people surrounding him, David was an excellent Senator with a phenomenal voting record and a solid record of sponsoring, co-sponsoring and passing needed legislation.
If everyone in the House and Senate was a good a person as David Vitter is, America would be in such a state of prosperity it's hard to even fathom. He endured a nation-wide, public shaming, and he took it like a man. It takes a man to endure the endless ridicule he was (and locally still is) subjected to without lashing out in defense of oneself.
While I'm not suggesting anyone have an affair in any capacity, I am calling on more Congressmen and Senators to vote the principles you campaigned on. Whatever you (Congressmen and Senators) did that they are holding over your head as blackmail in order to control you, come forward and admit it publicly. Get out in front and control the narrative. Then, they'll no longer be able to blackmail you.
Any of you Congressmen and Senators who do this and refuse to allow an outside person, people or entity control you, I will forgive your sin whatever it may be - unless it's pedophilia or murder. If that's the case I hope you go to jail where you belong.
Provided it's anything besides pedophilia or murder, I'll forgive and I'll publicly call on others to do so as well.
It won't end your political career. It didn't end David's. That 2010 reelection campaign against Charlie Melancon was polling at about 52-48 (excluding undecided voters) when I joined the campaign. We won by 19 percentage points seven months later.
With a strong message and a talented grassroots operation (meaning your Grassroots Director and all Coordinators are experienced and/or smart and driven). Hire John Brabender before anyone else can (provided he's still in good health and working). Brabender's ads during that record-setting 2010 mid-term cycle were epic. Most of the videos in this blog are Brabender's material. The other was a short clip that I filmed myself where I caught Charlie Melancon admitting that all the negative things our campaign was saying about him were true.
I can't speak for all voters, but I care far more about how an elected official performs his or her official duties than I do their personal lives. As a matter of fact, I don't care if they go to bisexual swingers clubs in their spare time if they vote the way I want and promote and enact an agenda consistent with conservative and libertarian principles.
Read more from Peter at the following blogs:
* Peter Egan's Blogspot Blog
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