WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Vitter looking ‘increasingly desperate,’ LA-GOV ‘becoming a referendum on David Vitter'

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Vitter looking ‘increasingly desperate,’ LA-GOV ‘becoming a referendum on David Vitter’

The reviews are in on David Vitter’s last-minute mea culpa ad. Louisiana and national outlets agree: ‘Hard Times’ is not just the name of Vitter’s ad, it’s an apt description of the state of his campaign.

Vitter’s ad comes as early voting has already started in Louisiana, and fails to answer questions about why he skipped a vote to honor 28 fallen soldiers on the floor of the House of Representatives, just minutes before taking a call from the D.C. Madam.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: 

Baton Rouge Advocate columnist Stephanie Grace: “Vitter himself is looking increasingly desperate. …[b]y this point in the race, it’s hard to see Vitter playing a convincing victim.”

Roll Call’s Nathan Gonzales: “Vitter’s response ad is more indicative of a campaign in critical condition.”

Washington Post: “The Louisiana governor’s race is becoming a referendum on David Vitter.”

MSNBC: “There’s only one reason a candidate would release an ad like this: because he has to.”

WVUE political analyst Mike Sherman: “It’s not surprising the Vitter camp needs to try to defend this. To date he has avoided discussing his ‘serious sin.’ John Bel Edwards is putting Senator Vitter in a position in these final two weeks to challenge him to talk about that serious sin or face the repercussions.“

Time Magazine’s Michael Scherer: “If you find yourself explaining your prostitution scandal in a paid advertisement in the final days of a gubernatorial campaign, things could be better.”  

USA Today: “In 2007 Vitter confessed to a “serious sin” after the “D.C. Madam” scandal broke, but he has never provided details about the serious sin.”

Louisiana political analyst Robert Mann: “It was the first time anyone had credibly suggested that Vitter’s prostitution habit in the late 1990s and early 2000s had influenced the performance of his public duties.” 

Baton Rouge Advocate: “The new — and potentially most damaging element — was to show that Vitter got a call from Palfrey on Feb. 27, 2001, only 39 minutes after missing a vote on House Concurrent Resolution 39. It honored “the ultimate sacrifice” of 28 soldiers killed by an Iraqi missile attack on Feb. 25, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm.”

Washington Post: “Vitter is in the equally unenviable position of having to try to explain why allegations that he called a prostitute are not fair game.”

New Orleans Times-Picayune: “In this case, Vitter is in trouble because there are concerns about his personal life.” 

“Although there have been questions raised about what Vitter was doing when he received other calls from the D.C. madam’s business, this is the first time his opponents have attempted to connect a call with the bill honoring slain servicemen.”

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