Cao joins Senate race, skeptical on Trump
7th March 2016 · 0 Comments
By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer
Last week, former New Orleans Republican Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao became the latest candidate to join the U.S. Senate race to replace the retiring David Vitter. “I believe Louisiana needs a strong voice in the Senate, but at the same time, we do need a sensible voice. We need a person who will look at the issues that are best for Louisiana, and decide on the issues rather than on what the wind happens to blow on a certain day,” Cao told The Louisiana Weekly in an interview. “I have a strong record of making hard decisions whether those decisions are popular.”
His willingness to stand against the political winds, as he did with his early support of Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, made the moderate Republican skeptical if Donald Trump had demonstrated the qualities necessary to be the GOP standard-bearer.
When asked if he would vote for the maverick New York billionaire for President, Cao replied, “I’m not going to answer anything that’s in the hypothetical,” noting that Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Ted Cruz were still in the race. But, he did add, “I just have to listen with respect to the many issues, and so far I have not received an answer from Donald Trump.”
Based upon what he has seen to this point, Cao expressed doubts as to whether he even knew enough as of yet to support Trump for President, prospective GOP nominee or not. “At this point in time, I’m still not sure. He has not been very clear on many issues. He has not been very clear on the plans that he has for this country moving forward. Am I going to simply vote on the fact that he has an ‘interesting’ character. NO!”
“I like a substantive plan. If a person is running for President, I would prefer that he would present a substantive plan of how we are going to move this country forward. How are we going to address the issues of education in this country? How are we going to address the issue of crime? How are we going to address the issue of small businesses? Provided with some level of detail for us to make a well-informed decision.”
“At this point in time, I believe that many people are making decisions on their emotions. And, I believe that whenever decisions are made on emotions alone, that decision may be long. Before I would make any decisions on who I am going to support for President, I believe that person has to put forward a concrete plan of how he or she is going to make this country better than it was before.”
It was a less than veiled reference to Cao’s willingness to buck the GOP during his brief two years in the House of Representatives, most notably his support of the original House version of the Affordable Care Act.
“As you [may] recall, I voted against the final passage of the Affordable Care Act because it was a bad bill for small businesses as well as a bad bill for the pro-life movement. At the same time, though, the original decision was made [to vote for the House version of the ACA] within the context of me representing the Second Congressional District of Louisiana. As you know, the Second Congres-sional District is a minority district. Many of my constituents did not have medical care, and I felt that it was incumbent of me to vote on a bill that would help my constituency whether or not the bill was popular.”
Despite his moderate politics, Cao faces a proverbial “uphill climb” to have a shot at making a November runoff.
“Look at the people in the race that have an established base,” Cao said, ranking his candidacy as equal to Boustany and Fleming based upon his previous election to the US House. “I, as a former congressman of the Second Congressional District, have a base in the Southeastern part of the state.”
Still, Cao added, that his chances are not predicated upon “one coalition versus another. It’s about who will the people vote for to represent them in the U.S. Senate…. When you look at my own record in the past, I believe I have a strong record to appeal to people.”
Moreover, the former Second District Congressman agreed that he lacks the money of this opponents, but added that while a candidate needs a healthy campaign fund, “Money does not win elections…Jeb Bush had the most money in the Presidential field.”
Cao acknowledged that he had launched a statewide campaign previously after he left the U.S. House, one that ended somewhat ignominiously when he withdrew—automatically re-electing Buddy Caldwell. Noting that 2011 race for LA Attorney General did not end as he planned, he explained, “I announced to run for it, but I finally withdrew from it for various reasons.”
Having just left the U.S. House, he rationalized that he was trying to both rebuild his law practice and run for AG. The balancing act left him with insufficient time or resources to run statewide. “Now that my law practice has been re-established. Now that I’m more stable…I believe I can run…And, when you look at my base here in the Second Congressional District, I have a strong opportunity to win.”
The fundamental question from a platform perspective remains for Cao, “What can we do to address the needs of the poor? And, I believe that what we need to do, first and foremost, is look at our educational system. Is it adequate for us to cultivate our children in order for them to become productive citizens? Do we have a sufficient system in place—do we have sufficient funding in place—for our children to become good moral citizens?”
Cao dedicated his time in the U.S. House towards expanding federal resources for education. Noting his support for Boys Town, mental health care, and youth interdiction programs as a Congressman, as well as his six years as a member of Society of Jesus, teaching impoverished children, Cao centers his bid for the U.S. Senate around similar themes of educating and helping the less fortunate. “During my two years in the House, I was able to contribute in making better lives for many of our people in this great city of New Orleans.”
This article originally published in the March 7, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
