Long holiday weekend.. but stuff continued to happen

Let's see.. a few things to get us caught up.

• Gotta tell you, man. Ouzo SEEMS like a good idea at first but does make you sorry eventually.
• Believe it or not, Rose said something this morning I actually agree with.

  If I had to try to gauge the mood of the city right now, I'd venture that it's not good -- no matter whom you wanted to be mayor. There is the unmistakable odor of malaise in the air.

  He, of course, won't tell you this but It's starting to sink in that the result of the mayoral election is going to make this recovery a much longer harder slog than it has to be. I'd go into some reasons for this but I think it's better just to out and out take Adrastos's recomendation and link you over to Moldy City where I find it hard to disagree with much of the analysis. David, on the other hand, did take issue with my convention-related boosterism last week. I honestly can't blame him. I think I've made my feelings about the tourist-plantation economy fairly clear. Unfortunately, with Nagin around, I'm afraid that's all the business we can expect to see in town for a while... oh and I'm sure the post office will be pretty busy too. David also has a lot to say about the T-P's inadequate coverage of Nagin's contributors as well as his well organized GOP support. You'd think if David and Oyster can dig this stuff up by simply surfing the internet, the T-P might be able to dedicate some resources to actually doing its job here and there. Or maybe you wouldn't think that.. not if you've been paying attention to the T-P for very long. Ultimately, though, I find myself once more in unlikely agreement with another of my less favorite people, Clancy Dubos, who places the blame where it belongs: Mitch's weak, milquetoast campaign.

  A CHALLENGER'S FIRST, MOST FUNDAMENTAL TASK in taking on an incumbent is to give voters a compelling argument for change.
  
  Step Two is to present yourself as the most logical alternative to the incumbent.
  
  Step Three is to convince voters that you can deliver on your promises.
  
  It sounds a lot easier than it is.
  
  Mitch Landrieu utterly failed to take Step One and, because those steps are sequential, little else that he did or said mattered. In fact, he said in several debates that there was not much difference, philosophically, between himself and Nagin. That screamed to white voters, who should have been his base: Stay home! It doesn't matter! It also made it easier for conservative whites (particularly Republicans, encouraged by a carefully orchestrated campaign attributed to the White House) to vote for Nagin, which they did in significant numbers.
  
  Landrieu also refused to criticize Nagin in debates. This "kid glove" approach made him look timid, even daunted by Nagin. His black vote, which was 25 percent in the primary, shrank to 20 percent in the runoff. One could argue that he lost black anti-Nagin votes between the primary and the runoff because he wussed out. He was afraid of being the white guy picking on the black mayor after the big, bad storm -- because his liberal white conscience feared a black backlash.
  
  Consequently, he soft-peddled any potential criticism of Nagin -- and there was a lot that he could have criticized Nagin for -- or kept it to himself. The ultimate irony for Landrieu was that while he didn't even take a swing at Nagin, he got the backlash anyway: blacks turned out for the mayor in overwhelming numbers. In the primary, Nagin won about two-thirds of the black vote; in the runoff, his share of black votes jumped to 80 percent. The mayor's white vote was a paltry 7 percent in the primary, but it exceeded 20 percent in the runoff -- and much of the increase could be attributed to a strong "anti-Landrieu" undercurrent among Uptown whites.
  
  Having failed to take Step One, Landrieu proceeded directly to Step Three -- and there was a disconnect. He failed to give voters a compelling reason to reject Nagin, and he failed to present himself as the logical alternative. Instead, he simply argued that he could do everything that Nagin was promising better than Nagin could.

• Sadly, this weekend, Craig "Ironhead" Heyward passed away at age 39. Heyward was my Favorite Saint Ever His career in New Orleans was nearly ruined by the incompetent hard-ass hard-headed coach Jim Mora. Last year, while writing about the death of Sam Mills, I had this to say about Ironhead

  Heyward may be my all time favorite football player. Chunky, goofy, constantly beleaguered by those in authority; what's not to like?

  That about sums it up.
  
  Craig Heyward: One of the all-time great fat guys. He will be missed.