Donald Trump told voters that John Bel Edwards was coming for their guns. It is not clear anyone bought that
John Bel Edwards, the only Democrat in the deeply Republican Deep South to hold his state’s top office, won a second term on November 16th, a result that was startling from nearly every angle. Mr Edwards hung on for a 51-49% victory over Eddie Rispone, a businessman, despite furious efforts by President Donald Trump to turn the race into a referendum on impeachment.
Despite governing a state where 58% of voters plumped for Mr Trump, Mr Edwards is popular. His achievements—a balanced budget, criminal-justice reforms—have been cautious, bipartisan affairs. He is an avid hunter and a diehard pro-lifer, taking away two of the most reliable lines of attack on Democrats in this part of the country. Mr Trump told voters that Mr Edwards was coming for their guns, but it is not clear anyone bought that.The fact of Mr Edwards’s victory is important.
Mr Edwards’s perceived strength explains why his opponent was Mr Rispone, the low-wattage owner of an electrical-contracting firm. Mr Rispone’s only competition in the primary came from Ralph Abraham, who shared some of Mr Rispone’s attributes but lacked his money. Mr Rispone ran a campaign that consisted largely of attaching himself to Mr Trump—he attacked Mr Abraham for briefly questioning Candidate Trump’s fitness after the “Access Hollywood” tape.
Mr Edwards tried mightily not to antagonise Mr Trump. A day after the election he told Tyler Bridges of thethat he had avoided paying attention to the president’s appearances in the state for fear it would cause him to say something intemperate. He allowed himself one dig on election night. “God bless his heart,” he said of Mr Trump, to a jubilant crowd—a backhanded compliment which, in the South, roughly translates as “Forgive him; he’s a moron.
Mr Edwards promises to protect the achievements of his first term: less incarceration, a rise in teachers’ pay, balanced budgets. The biggest new idea he has put on the table is a promise to put more state money into early childhood education. Whether even such a modest agenda can be brought to fruition will depend on the legislature, which has a nearly veto-proof Republican majority. Four years of gridlock seems a likely outcome.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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