Sunday, January 03, 2010

Curious thing this is...

In quitting New Orleans mayor's race, Ed Murray cites desire to avoid expensive, 'racially divisive' contest

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Zombie, I heard that the real reason Murray dropped out was because the Georges campaign had some incriminating photos of him passed out at a bar. Apparently Georges blackmailed him into dropping out. This guy is a real piece of work, Georges.

Looking said...

Looking forward to Murray endorsing Georges. That may give the rumour some real legs.

Jason Brad Berry said...

dude, if that's true he just jumped to the top of the Sneaky Snake countdown for 2010.

That's pathetic.

Superdeformed said...

I think drunken pictures of Murrey would endear him to many of us voters. :P

Anonymous said...

I'd be curious for any proof of the rumor. Seems fairly clear that Murray's seen the same polls everyone else has and doesn't want to spend any more of his own money.

Frolic said...

The Gambit claims that Georges did have incriminating photos, but only planned to use them in the run-off.

http://blogofneworleans.com/blog/2010/01/04/this-watershed-election/#comments

Anonymous said...

Only if these pictures of Murray show him dressed up in drag. I'm hearing the internal polling data from a couple of candidates actually show the african american population to be a much smaller number than what the media is portraying it to be. I heard one candidate who is still in the race hired some demographers to study to the racial numbers in Orleans Parish. Those number suggested a population of African American registered voters who still lived in the City at less than 42%.

This is why Murray dropped out because the african american population that was in Orleans Parish Pre-K has largely disappeared and with the disappearance so has their money to fund candidates. Murray should have moved to Atlanta where he might find those missing voters.

Anonymous said...

None of this makes any sense at all.

None of it.

Didn't Murray endorse Landrieu in 2006? (That's a question).

If Murray is saying his fundraising has dried up and Landrieu is saying his fundraising has taken off (he's saying it has) does that mean that Landrieu and Murray are raising from the same fundraising base?

The 'racially divisive' bit does not fly - if anyone Murray could be the one guy who says he represents a racially diverse district and he's hardly a racial demagogue.

On the othe4r hand the Vincent Sylvain krewe has been screaming about how (1) a real 'politician' was needed to run the city and (2) how important it was to stress the need to keep the mayorship in black hands. Maybe Murray just didn't like that. -- On the other hand everybody knew those were the rules from the beginning, at least from teh traditional "machine" [for lack of a better word].

Dead Pelican is reporting a rumor that Sen. Mary Landrieu not only traded support on the health bill for the $300 million in medicare funding but also for outside support for Mitch in the mayor's race. - Don't know about that one but IF Murray did catch wind of such a thing maybe he would just throw his hands up and say there was no way he could win.

On the other hand, regardless of recent polling, Murray was likely to garner the lion's share of the black vote, no? As bad as his campaign has been up until now (lousey commercials, lack of charisma, etc.) di anyone really expect Landrieu to do better than the 20% of the black vote he got vs Nagin or Georges to get what he got vs Jindal???

Finally, consider who really profits from this:

Georges and/or Troy Henry.

Because he has the money to push his campaign forward Troy Henry (as opposed to Ramsey or Perry) could very well just step in to get into the runoff and if he does that you could be looking at the black/white runoff with all its alleged "racial divisiveness" Murray was alluding to anyway.

Is there any hope for reform in this City with this group? Not looking like it.

I really think this whole race is being manipulated in ways we are not even aware of.

jeffrey said...

Frolic, It looks to me like a commenter at the Gambit site made that claim.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Dead Pelican is reporting a rumor that Sen. Mary Landrieu not only traded support on the health bill for the $300 million in medicare funding but also for outside support for Mitch in the mayor's race. - Don't know about that one but IF Murray did catch wind of such a thing maybe he would just throw his hands up and say there was no way he could win.

Apparently Murray himself is making a similar claim, but I've been told that is absolutely false claim.

I've been told he was essentially "threatened" by Georges with pictures of himelf passed out at a bar at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and also paid off by Georges.

I think Looking is right, if Murray comes out and endorses Georges, this rumor will solidify.

Anonymous said...

oh lord if you people are giving credence to anonymous rumors from a Comments section, then the Terrorists Have Already Won.

get brains. if you want to hate georges because hes rich or conservative or whatever, fine. but do it with facts.

Frolic said...

True, Jeffery, but that commenter was Clancy (who also tosses in a dig at all the "amateurs political pundits" who just aren't as connected as he is):

"With regard to the alleged photos and video that Georges “was going to go public with,” you need to stop believing amateur political pundits; they don’t know what they’re talking about. Their sources are not “Murray’s inner circle.” My sources are. I doubt those amateurs could even name Murray’s inner circle; I was talking to Murray’s inner circle — face to face — an hour after Murray announced his exit Saturday night. Georges had nothing to do with it. Besides, what good would it do Georges to force Murray out of the race by blackmailing or strong-arming him? Murray now goes back to the state Senate, where he is by everyone’s account a very effective lawmaker — and all of Georges’ $1 billion-a-year businesses are regulated by the state. Georges isn’t that dumb. He can’t afford to have a guy like Murray angry at him in the Lege. Moreover, Georges’ polls (and most others) had Georges in second place. Why blackmail the third-place guy to get him out?

Georges initially had those photos (and alleged video) because he was hoping the runoff would be between him and Murray — and he’d use them in the runoff to win the race, not in the primary to push Murray out and make him a lifelong enemy.

Mitch Landrieu’s entry into the race changed everything."

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Finally, consider who really profits from this:

Georges and/or Troy Henry.


True, but there is a strong conservative contingency who was backing Murray that will now probably get behind Georges simply because they hate the Landrieus.

Plus, don't assume Georges' campaign is smart enough to understand that Henry and Perry may actually be a threat...even more than him. I think Georges is a little delusional in this race and he probably has a lot of folks blowing smoke up his arse as well.

Regardless this rumor is true and it becomes public knowledge...he doesn't have a chance in hell.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Regardless this rumor is true and it becomes public knowledge...he doesn't have a chance in hell.

correction! IF this rumor is true...I'm not claiming it is!!!

everybody wants to sue me these days, can't believe I left IF out.

Anonymous said...

...after reading Clancy Debos' commentary, commentary concluded on after interviewing Murray's inner circle personally, i dont know how anyone can subscribe to tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories like these.

murray is 2nd fiddle to landrieu. to win he would have to fight dirty, and at great personal expense -- financially & morally.

not wanting to go there, he backed out. and said exactly this in his release.

so why doubt it??

Xavier said...

I have old stuff on the Nagin Georges connection. Does anyone have any new info?

Anonymous said...

Hey Dambala, does his dropping out have anything to do with the little inappropriate relationship between married people playing but not with their spouses that you alluded to some weeks ago?

I have been waiting on the front seat of the sofa. Just want to know if I should get up and wait for you to announce the people?

Jason Brad Berry said...

- oh lord if you people are giving credence to anonymous rumors from a Comments section, then the Terrorists Have Already Won.

get brains. if you want to hate georges because hes rich or conservative or whatever, fine. but do it with facts.

So let's get something straight, regardless of what Clancy or anyone says, I give credence to the rumor because I know Georges' history of dirty political tactics...I wouldn't put this past him in a second. Ask your buddy Georges who torpeded Paulette Irons....or who financed the Stop Shelley campaign....or who created the recent Mitch spoof and wouldn't take responsibility for it even after we tracked it back to Iokon, his media company.

Is the rumor true? I don't know, but it certainly is within the man's character.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Hey Dambala, does his dropping out have anything to do with the little inappropriate relationship between married people playing but not with their spouses that you alluded to some weeks ago?

no. that is not about Georges but it's not dead yet.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- I have old stuff on the Nagin Georges connection. Does anyone have any new info?

The only thing I have heard on this blog is that he and Nagin were joint investors in a casino in Mexico.

There was some speculation that Georges may be involved in the recent stuff going on with the JP City Council, Whitmer, and Broussard but I haven't heard anything else.

Frolic said...

Anyone else think it's strange that Georges camp would lay out its whole dirty tricks strategy for Clancy?

Anonymous said...

@dambala - "Ask your buddy Georges"

always so defensive with you -- i never said i was georges supporter, at all. im not. and yet, since i dont agree with you that this is the least bit credible, in in the georges camp.

not surprising, same thing when i commented on not finding his dog ad very offensive.

people are toucheeee on this blog, eh?

Anonymous said...

Xavier, Dambala, as to: >- I have old stuff on the Nagin Georges connection. Does anyone have any new info?<

Guys, Georges, Nagin and Roy Rodney were partners in the NO Brass Hockey team.


But maybe that's just "old" stuff, right?

Unknown said...

Gosh. And here I was feeling sorry for Murray thinking "Awww here's this guy with a sleepy disposition who just doesn't want people to hate him win or lose. Especially for racial reasons. And especially black people... since he's, you know, black and all I guess."

And I kinda made fun of Dr. Silas Lee (and I put qoutes around 'Dr' at the time) for talking about "Scary Secret Organizations" plotting doom.

Now I don't know who the simp is... but signs seem to be pointing towards me.

Vote Ghuthorges! Why choose a Lesser Evil.

I guess... w0_0w

Anonymous said...

Clancy is bought & paid for the Landrieu camp. I take 20% of what he says as fact and the remaining 80% is written to sway the "his" candidates. Clancy is nothing more than a poor white man's Vincent Sylvain or an even better comparison would be a bad hair weaved Beverly McKenna of the New Orleans Tribune.

As for Georges--please don't waste your vote on him. He is nothing more than a wolve in sheeps clothing. Henry's claim to fame is daddy Henry was head of the local Unions in Orleans Parish. Henry is exceptionally bright but there are concerns about his political contributors just like Georges.

Oh and as far as Clancy goes, American Zombie broke the crime camera case and several other corruption stories. Gambit did not but then again I guess his so-called "Professional" crackpot team of journalists were too busy covering who the next King of Comus is.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- people are toucheeee on this blog, eh?

NO...WE'RE NOT!! NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!

:)

touchy no, sarcastic yes.

you may want to note that Clancy even verified that the photos did exist and Georges was in possession of them and intended to use them against Murray:

"Georges initially had those photos (and alleged video) because he was hoping the runoff would be between him and Murray — and he’d use them in the runoff to win the race, not in the primary to push Murray out and make him a lifelong enemy."

So I would say it is the least bit credible, and more.

My point is that Georges has a history of dirty politics but he never takes responsibility for any of the bullshit he pulls. If he's gonna play dirty, I think it's important people know what he's made of.

Jason Brad Berry said...

For the record, Clancy knows much more about this city than I ever will. I would never compare AZ to what Clancy and the Gambit does...namely they are a business, I am just an asshole with a blog.

And in the interest of disclosure...I dig Mitch too. I dig James Perry as well, I dig Leslie Jacobs even though she dropped out.

I think Troy Henry is lying about his resume.

I think John Georges is an egomaniac and liar and would be a horrible mayor.

I was indifferent about Murray, but it was kind of hard to be anything but indifferent with his personality.

What else.....oh....I despise the thought of Jay Batt returning to City Council.

uuhh...I think Helena Moreno is hot as balls but I would never vote for her.

I despise David Vitter simply for his hypocrisy, racist pandering, and relationship with the LFF, but in terms of his track record for bringing home the bacon for the state, I give him props. Having said that, I would rather see Jay Dardene or Melancon in that spot.

Jindal..eh...whatever...fire your staff man.

I am cautiously in favor of the Bio-science corridor provided it's done right (i will not define right, so don't ask). I am in favor of the Reinventing the Crescent plan.

I think it's better to watch WWL in standard def than HD...or they should at least put a soft FX filter on their cams, a la Barbara Walters. I used to think Lucy Bustamante was hot until I was exposed to every pore in her face. I now find Norman Robinson easier on the eyes...and that ain't right.

I like what some people think of as cheesy music, i.e., ELO...but I really don't like Steely Dan.

I'm sure there are many pictures of me passed out at bars just like Ed Murray, but definitely not at Ruth's Chris cause I couldn't afford that. As superdeformed said, I think a drunk Ed Murray is more endearing to me than a sober one....cause when he's sober...man is he sober.

boxers...definitely boxers.

wet toilet paper rocks.

Mary Ann..no question about it.

...uuhhh...good enough for now. not full disclosure but I hit on some pretty good issues.

Colby said...

Murray dropped out because he never REALLY wanted it....

He would have taken if it was easy, but 1,000lb marlins don't fall into your lap. As soon as he realized it was going to be a harder go than he ever wanted he dropped out. Everything else about race/morals/dirt/photos is just window dressing....he just didn't have what it takes to fight, much less win.

Colby said...

Dambala is right about one thing, Helena Moreno is pretty hot, but I think going to work for Georges might be a huge nail in the coffin of both her political and broadcasting careers.....

Frolic said...

"Murray dropped out because he never REALLY wanted it....

He would have taken if it was easy, but 1,000lb marlins don't fall into your lap. As soon as he realized it was going to be a harder go than he ever wanted he dropped out."

I sure hope the same isn't true of Landrieu, but that was surely the impression he gave last time around.

Anonymous said...

Murray has $200,000 invested in this race through two personal loans. See this post: http://insidenola2010.blogspot.com/

No way Ed has that kind of money to waste. I say he has a deal cut to pay it back. Georges has the money but an endorsement like that would destroy ed's career. He could go with landrieu who throws a fundraiser to retire that debt.

Unknown said...

Since Anon posted a site... Has anyone seen this one:
http://www.nolanext.com

I just noticed it about 4 days ago and I regularly google NO/LA political sites and info.

Its archives only go back to 12/25.

Xavier said...

Ashe, u r the fun 1. Always a joy to visit. Keep getting glimpses of Nagin-Georges. The old friendship (2002 Superbowl/Brass/Bush contribution challenge) was tru man luv and now there is no evidence they broke up. Really want to out anyone connected to Ray. Casino in Mexico, that is hard to research. HMMM bullerbo (my veriword) kewl

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Dambala is right about one thing, Helena Moreno is pretty hot, but I think going to work for Georges might be a huge nail in the coffin of both her political and broadcasting careers.....

yeah she's actually in Batt's camp...but you see my point. She ran as a democrat, then jumped in bed with Batt (metaphor...don't sue bitches)? dude...that ruined it for me. If she was working on Perry's campaign right now, I'd vote for against Mary Landrieu...why did she go the dark side so easy?

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Since Anon posted a site... Has anyone seen this one:
http://www.nolanext.com

yeah i saw it....yet one more amalgamated waste of electrons and photons. I think it's another Sabludowsky attempt to fill the void in his head. BayouBuzz v2.0.

I did marvel in it's Georges centric tone, though.

And I also noticed James Perry was conspicuously missing from the usual supsect line up at the top of the page.

Also I got the press release today (and that was spammed mind you, cause I didn't sign up) and the link to the homepage was broken....DOH!

my suggestion...ignore it.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Casino in Mexico, that is hard to research.

yeah but god it would be worth it. nobody said it would be easy.

Puddinhead said...

"I used to think Lucy Bustamante was hot until I was exposed to every pore in her face."

Just this man's opinion...but she is so much more attractive in person than on the tube. Might be something to do with personality or something. And Helena Moreno is pretty easy on the eyes in person as well. In fact, I served on the jury for a murder trial some years back, and both were sitting next to each other in the courtroom covering the trial. The things that happened between them in my nasty mind during the more boring testimony....

Jason Brad Berry said...

yeah I still think she's smoking, I'm just commenting on WWl's lack of filters. DSU seems to get it.

Bustamante and Moreno...damn...just throw Angela Hill in there and I'm in heaven.

:)

Jason Brad Berry said...

to clarify...Lucy Bustamante is hot as balls, too. I just wish you WWL guys would put a filter on your HD lens.

And Angela Hill is smokin'!

Unknown said...

-Dambala, thanks for the info on that site. I went from "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh." to "Ah-Ha, Ah-Ha."

Its really crazy how many political type sites are out there right now in this town.

Does anyone know when early voting starts? and thoughts on recent developments on that type of voting?

Silas Lee stated that Murray's leaving really takes energy out of the black electorate and without the national attention from last time many blacks aren't going to or get to vote.

I wonder if a Georges/Landrieu slugfest just might lull many black voters, poorer white voters and young voters into spectatorship and disaffection if its only two white "establishment" type guys in the lead.

I don't know. Maybe not having race involved at all will be a good thing and it will be more "Who's too liberal or too conservative." "Who's too business or who's too government." like any other place.

Anonymous said...

Dambala - this stuff is great reading:

>to clarify...Lucy Bustamante is hot as balls, too. I just wish you WWL guys would put a filter on your HD lens.<

- Holy cow, I cannot believe someone else is saying this. Is this said by others? YOU ARE CORRECT SIR! Been saying this for a long time myself.


>uuhh...I think Helena Moreno is hot as balls but I would never vote for her.<

- Right again! Politically her best effort was to run against Jefferson, which I appreciated; now that I see the crowd she hangs with (and I have seen them on the dinner/bar circuit) and her current new run for the State Leg and what that involves I just say no thanks.


Re DuBos: >For the record, Clancy knows much more about this city than I ever will. I would never compare AZ to what Clancy and the Gambit does...namely they are a business....< and then this [from *anon*] >Clancy is bought & paid for the Landrieu camp. I take 20% of what he says as fact and the remaining 80% is written to sway the "his" candidates. Clancy is nothing more than a poor white man's Vincent Sylvain...<

Realizing and appreciating DuBos' knowledge, status and writing, as you point out, I just have one question: does he or does he not receive consulting money or retain as clients pols he writes about? Isn't that what Silas Lee does? Isn't that what Sylvain does [well, to the extent he does WBOK and sends out his "newsletter"]???

>> Re: Mitch/Jacobs/Perry over Georges/Henry - well I agree there 100%. But:

- Does anyone know what they're getting with Landrieu in terms of policy? Will he support permanent reform changes? Let's hear it from him just once.

- Watch out for Henry, he is already ramping up the advertising with Murray out, took him no time at all.

- Landrieu needs to run a better race. Strike that, he needs to run a good, strong, aggressive and honest race.

>...As superdeformed said, I think a drunk Ed Murray is more endearing to me than a sober one....cause when he's sober...man is he sober.<

This is another part of the Clancy DuBos discussion from Gambit I don't get [aside from the logic of why Murray would be mad at Georges for exposing the pics before a runoff and not after (which DuBos admits exist after first denying they did)]: just how bad is that? The mayor got drunk??? In New Orleans? "OH NO!!!" In this City that would endear him to people. And let's face it nearly every pol in the city, including Georges, probably has similar "party pics" somewhere of them acting the fool. Murray wouldn't look at that and say "Big Fat HF Deal, run your pictures buddy."?

Anonymous said...

Murray is a POLITICIAN!

Why does it continue to surprise people when POLITICIANS lie, spin, and BS the public?

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify..
WWL does NOT shoot thier news in HD..
Not sure about WDSU..
WVUE and WGNO are for sure in HD...

Not to go off topic on the blog.. but this is no worse than the talk of who is Hot as Balls....

Jason Brad Berry said...

Then why the Hell do I watch it on Cox HD channel 704 every night? Are they using SD camz and upconverting? Why would they do that?

Jason Brad Berry said...

oh...you can always go off topic on this blog...I encourage it

Unknown said...

Well... Ever since the first mayoral debate I've had a fetish for Nadine Ramsey. That hair in her eyes reminded me of Jessica Rabbit ...

Well... off to google "Nadine Ramsey + Nude", again

What?

Anonymous said...

Then why the Hell do I watch it on Cox HD channel 704 every night? Are they using SD camz and upconverting? Why would they do that?


That is exactly what they do...
Converting the entire station to HD is EXPENSIVE.. WWL and WDSU have not done it yet.. WVUE and WGNO both had to rebuild from the ground up after Katrina.. so HD was a no brainer..

That.. and rumors have it that WWL will not go HD until Angela is gone..
NO one wants to see her in HD :-(

Unknown said...

Hey found this site looking up Dutch Morial

http://www.carvinseder.com/clients.html

Interesting look at political commercials from the past. Especially since the announcer in the "D. Morial Leadership" pronounce 'sewage' as 'suer-edge".

What promoted me to look for this?

I was wondering... "How would the city have faired during and after Katrina if Marc had gotten his third term?"

Anonymous said...

Troy Henry dropped out of the Mayor's race?

vern said...

Henry did not drop out but he certainly shot himself in the foot. In my opinion, he did such a good job of hurting himself, he might as well have severed an artery.

Thoughts?????

Anonymous said...

Just got back from the debate - have to say Landrieu was superior, though Perry seemed impressive. Lots of chatter about Henry being in a good position, but what a tepid effort. Couhig was most passionate and serious believe it or not, but is still charisma challenged. Georges, yikes, I don't get it, a former candidate for governor should be better, he came in 4th to me. Henry talks quite a line, but he has bs written all over him. Next, last came Ramsey - nice lady with no indication she understands the problems, but she seems to care. They need to keep Chevy Bruno, Jerry Jacobs and that nice Jerome Baschle out of these things, way too distracting. - sobieski

Like It Is said...

sobieski
I agree with you on your view of the forums. I attended the WDSU, Realtors, missed the youth brouhaha, and saw last night's AFGG forum. Georges is conceding that he does not have the intellect to be in this race when he states "I learned a lot tonight." I'm Jonesing me a pack of Jerry Jacobs for Mayor rolling papers. Chevrolet needs to quit wasting my time with his buffoonery when we already have that in the Mayor's office now.
So far I am rating the candidates:
Couhig 4.0
Georges 3.0
Henry 3.5
Landrieu 4.5
Perry 4.5
Ramsey 2.5
Perry was much disciplined in keeping on message last night and letting Chevy the Clown affect him like he did Georges during the WDSU forum.

Anonymous said...

Clancy Dubois has a lot of questions he needs to answer. I have a feeling his reputation is going to be about as credible as Hippo Katz in the near future. Its going to get very ugly for him and the Gambit.