News

Site takes aim at JBE

by Jeremy Alford, LaPolitics

America Rising is at it again.

The Washington-based conservative political outfit has been pushing alternative story lines regarding Gov. John Bel Edwards to reporters over the past few months in hopes of influencing public dialogue in Louisiana — and eventually Edwards’ re-election campaign in 2019.

And now it’s promoting a new microsite, or an auxiliary website, called “The Accidental Governor.”

“Mocking the 56 percent of Louisiana voters who supported Gov. Edwards seems like a losing strategy but is par for the course for a Washington, D.C., special interest group,” said Richard Carbo, the governor’s communications director.

Scott Sloofman, an America Rising spokesman, said the site is “dedicated to cataloguing Edwards’ liberal positions, flip-flops and broken promises.” It’s meant to be part of an ever-expanding “research narrative.”

If nothing else, it certainly doubles down on the group’s commitment to target Edwards in 2019.

“Gov. Edwards is one of the last Democrats standing in the South, and our mission is to highlight his broken campaign promises and liberal record,” Sloofman said in a statement. “With his support of higher taxes and coziness with the trial lawyers, no amount of moderate masquerading can separate Edwards from the liberal policies of today’s Democratic Party. One of the reasons we were able to define Secretary Clinton so negatively was our four-year head start on the research, and we aim to replicate that effort and end result with Gov. Edwards. This website is just the starting point.”