In running against Cassidy, @AdrianDPerkins will be first big-name Democrat to get into #lasen race. Other Dem challengers across country have raised big $$ to run against GOP incumbents. We'll see if Perkins can do same. He has sterling resume, but it's safe Repub seat #lagov— Tyler Bridges (@tegbridges) July 22, 2020
It was immediately predicted that he would "excite" Democrats
I'll be more blunt about the Senate race. @BillCassidy has drawn an opponent that Democrats can take seriously in Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins. West Point/Harvard grad who is young and Black? Tough for him to win, but he'll excite the Dems. #lasen https://t.co/Hiz6affazU— Julie O'Donoghue (@JSODonoghue) July 22, 2020
Because, apparently, the things that most excite and "compel" Democrats are Ivy League credentials and being a troop.
Shreveport mayor Adrian Perkins--former class president at West Point and student body president at Harvard Law--will challenge U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R). Pretty compelling story. Could be an interesting race if he can raise some money. #lalege #lasen https://t.co/hgKET0rJIS— Sam Karlin (@samkarlin) July 22, 2020
At least that seemed to be the script everyone was reading from. Uncanny? Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, they did tell us who emailed it to them.
Perkins picks up two @JohnBelEdwards alumni, Kia Bickham and @micahjcormier, along with a few Gumbo PAC alumni, for his team, per release. #lalege #lasen— Sam Karlin (@samkarlin) July 22, 2020
Can he win? Well, reading between the lines here, it doesn't seem likely that is even the point. See, while the Senate very well may be in play this year, the pros who run the Democratic Party juggernaut do not really expect Louisiana to be a part of that. BUT since there's likely to be a ton of money flowing their way this fall, it's a good idea to throw as many vessels for receiving and then distributing that money down to professional campaign staff into the mix as possible. And when Democrats need a placeholder-money sponge to fit into a race like that, well, meritocratic-neoliberal-millitary is the type they prefer.
But, hey don't take it from me...
We need a new generation of leadership in Washington. Looking forward to working with @PerkinsforLA. https://t.co/hfCatBCUkE— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) July 22, 2020
It's good to see @PerkinsforLA stepping forward to run for Senate. His perspective as a mayor on the front lines of leadership (plus as a veteran, and one of a new generation of dynamic Black elected leaders) is more timely than ever. https://t.co/y6Ef6Rh1Fm— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) July 23, 2020
Sounds very exciting and compelling, right? Can't you just imagine him facing down some Republican nonsense in the Senate right now? Wouldn't you like to see a guy like that stand up and ask Mitch McConnell or Tom Cotton if they have "no sense of decency sir?" What if he had been there on the Senate floor during this term? What might that have looked like?
On Aug. 29th, Sens. Chuck Grassley and Diane Feistein received a letter from eight recent or current members of Harvard Law’s Black Law Student Association (BLSA), including Shreveport mayoral candidate Adrian Perkins, in support of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court.Oh dear.
The Bayou Brief contacted Perkins, both directly and through his campaign, and, as of the time of publication, has yet to receive a response.
The letter praises Kavanaugh, a staunchly pro-life conservative who is now confronting credible allegations of sexual assault, for meeting with African-American students in March and providing them “his insights and advice” on how to secure a judicial clerkship. “The students who have signed below write to express appreciation for the Judge’s enthusiasm on this issue and hope that his efforts will be taken into consideration,” the letter reads.
Well, to contextualize this a bit, the young Harvard men are often asked to sign letters like this on behalf of fellow Harvard men seeking advancement in various arenas. It's a think Harvard men are expected to do for one another. And at the time of this letter, the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh were not widely known so it's probable that Perkins just signed the thing because that's part of what it means to be in the club of Harvard men. Kavanaugh had shared with them some of his own "insights and advice" on how to get ahead themselves and so they would want to pay it back in whatever way they can.
Does that make signing your name to a letter supporting the installation of a right wing ideologue to the Supreme Court any better? Probably if you are the sort of Democrat who is "excited" by a resume like Perkins's it does. Not really sure who else it is supposed to impress, though.
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