Mid-day election notes

Kind of a grey day in New Orleans.  I've been in detention for most of it so I haven't gotten out of Uptown. From that limited perspective, things are slow. I didn't see anyone canvassing my neighborhood. But maybe that shouldn't come as a surprise since nobody actually lives there anymore and Airbnb transients do not vote.

No one was even waving signs at the major intersections. That might have something to do with SELA, though.  No room on any of the big neutral grounds. But even St. Charles Avenue was pretty barren this morning. I saw only one small sign there.  It was a Vitter sign and it looked very lonely.

But, like I said, the scope of my view is limited today.  Others have gotten out a bit more.

Actually impressed w/ number of bodies @JohnBelforLA has on streets in NOLA. Sign waves w/ ballots (Morial's LIFE for eg) everywhere. #lagov

— Andrew Tuozzolo (@ATuozzolo) October 24, 2015

As of right now it hasn't started raining quite yet in New Orleans, which is also pretty lucky.

Elsewhere the hearsay reports "heavy turnout in prime Vitter territory" so, clearly, there's action out there. 
Meanwhile, I noticed the latest Vitter Escapades were kept off of the front pages of both local papers this morning. That has to be a good sign for him.

The national reporters have happily picked it up, though.  Politico had it as soon as I woke up today. The closing quote there is the most notable.

Polls show a surprise second-place finish from either Dardenne or Angelle would boost Republicans' chances in the runoff. But Bradley Beychok, who managed Melancon's failed bid against Vitter five years ago, thinks neither Republican has been direct enough to sink Vitter in an open primary — despite the increasingly explicit references to Vitter's past.

"This is Godzilla. To slay Godzilla, you got to go directly at him," Beychok said. "You can't slay a dragon by chopping at his feet."

TPM's Josh Marshall is entertained. He says it's like something out of "Fargo." 

Apparently Normand holds a weekly get together with other political players at a Cafe in Old Metairie once a week to talk political business and gossip - because of course he does. On Friday morning Normand was meeting with his buds when he noticed a kid at the adjoining table - later identified as 30 year old Robert J. Frenzel of Dallas - apparently recording their conversation. Normand asks whether Frenzel was recording their conversation; Frenzel denies it. But of course, Frenzel, rattled, fumbles his iPhone or some similar recording device long enough for Normand to see the recording app open on the screen. A short while later Normand comes back to snap a picture of Frenzel at which point Frenzel bolts out of the Cafe at high speed and makes a run for it - with the Normand political crew in hot pursuit (one imagines, all a generation older than the presumably still spry Frenzel).

Please stop for a moment and try to work up a good visual image of all this in your head. Thank you.

It's a little weird to me that out of town observers would be surprised at just the fact of Normand's coffee klatch. I pick up my coffee every morning a few feet away from a similar meeting of Uptown gossips. When I was much younger I had a summer job bussing tables in a restaurant where Harry Lee would regularly hold court. If I had a smart phone back then, I guess I could have recorded them too. Anyway, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing we should consider out of the ordinary. But when I told this story to Menckles (she's from Baltimore) she thought it was funny too.

Meanwhile, if you still are looking for your polling location or sample ballot, you know where the website is. I noticed last night  WWLTV was hyping results maps they'll have provided by The Lens.  But I don't see the slightest hint from The Lens that they've got anything of the sort in the works.  Check back later, I guess.

Finally, even though I haven't got a very good handle on what the turnout looks like today, I'll go ahead and submit an entry to the predictions pool just for fun.

GOMER: 33

VITTY: 24

T-BOBBY:  20

MR. BEAN: 17

A lot of drama this past week, but it's likely we're gonna get the runoff we expected all along. Polls close at 8. Happy voting.