La.’s first Black woman Demo Party chair talks about the state of her party

21st May 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer

Three weeks easy loans.com ago, the LA Democratic State Central Com­mittee replaced incumbent Chair­man Buddy Leach with the first African-American woman ever to lead a political party in Louisiana, State Senator Karen Carter Peterson of New Orleans.

And Carter Peterson has come out swinging against the Republican governor’s performance during this current legislative session.

“In every year since [Bobby] Jindal took office, the administration’s budget numbers have proved way off the mark. Jindal’s bad math has become a chronic problem for Louisiana…Much of the concern over the Administration’s propensity to rely on one-time monies (including the State’s “Rainy Day” fund) to help plug budget holes. This strategy is intended to avoid the now-annual mid-year budget cuts the State will be forced to make to reconcile its books,” says the new La. Democratic State chair.

“Unfortunately, for the past several years, despite the legislature passing a ‘balanced’ budget, the administration’s projections of revenue or debt have proved inaccurate, leading to additional modifications and cuts, beyond those agreed upon during the legislative session. By requiring these cuts each year, the Administration continues to place critical services, such as education and health care, in great peril. These services are then needlessly plagued with uncertainty about their budgets throughout the year, and this impacts their availability and accessibility.”

Curiously, this puts Carter Peterson and the State Democratic Party on the same side as U.S. Sen. David Vitter and State House Republican conservative members who opposed the governor’s budget. And, together, they effectively stopped the Gov. Jindal’s attempt to use one-time monies.

It was the first successful achievement of Carter Peterson’s brief tenure as Democratic Party Chairperson, and it indicates that the La. Democratic Party leadership plans to become far more vocal in the coming years.

The new chairperson, who has a reputation in the State House for forming coalitions with prominent Republicans, served as Speaker Pro Tem under GOP Speaker Jim Tucker, and played an important role on several bipartisan, yet controversial pieces of legislation, like the establishment of the RSD and the expansion of charter schools in New Orleans.

When asked in an interview with The Louisiana Weekly if her party needs to become more outspoken Carter Peterson responded, “Absolutely!”

Says Carter Peterson, “We don’t have any statewide state party office holders; we are the minority party in both houses of the Legislature. We are, by definition, the opposition party. It is our task to point out when the governor fails the people of this state, either by supporting flawed policies, or by neglecting to run effective or efficient government — and to hold him responsible.

“That’s the bottom line. The Louisiana Republican Party, like the national party, represents the interests of a very narrow but well-heeled segment of our state. The policies advanced by the governor and his legislative allies too frequently advance only those interests. Our party needs to point that out and to be about the business of explaining the implications of those policies to the public, and about solutions to payday loans laying out a better vision for our state.”

She says, “The task at hand is to bring the party into the 21st century, to empower our grassroots, and to make our party an aggressive voice of truth for Louisianians who are being battered by bad policies and choices brought upon by Republican governance. The Democratic Party needs to get back to the business of standing up for the working families of this state. As we do that, it will transform our party and people’s perceptions of it.”

When asked, of the significance of electing the first African-American woman to the post of Party Chair, Carter Peterson answered, “the Democratic Party is a big-tent party, and I’m proud that it has always stood for the bedrock American values of tolerance and equality. Especially as we hear more about the war on women, it’s important that women have a strong voice in policy and public affairs. As you can see from our Party’s leadership team, we have a geographically and ethnically diverse group of folks ready to work together for all Louisianans. The leadership of our party looks like the people who make up our party and I think that will mean positive things for the future of our party.”

Still, while white Democratic presence in the legislature significantly diminished in the last election, the veteran legislator saw little reason to tweak the platform to get local Caucasian voters to swing back to the Democrats.

According to Carter Peterson, “I don’t think the message changes on account of the race of the listener. White, Black, Latino, Asian; it doesn’t matter. The people of Louisiana need someone to fight for them, because the challenges our state face do not just impact one race or segment. Poorly performing public schools hurt everyone. The lack of accessibility to and affordability of higher education and health care hurts us all. The bottom line is that in Louisiana, government must work — whether that work is providing education, providing access to health care, making investments in our future so that we leave a better state for the generations that follow us.

“What we’ve seen over the past five years is that the cost of a public college education is moving beyond the reach of too many middle-class families — even with TOPS; we’ve seen access to health­care services reduced while the number of people with health insurance has fallen; we’ve seen poverty rates rise. These trends affect us all, regardless of race.”

Continuing, she says, “The administration and conservatives tell us these cuts and cost shifts are necessary because of budget necessity, yet we know that some of the privatization measures launched by the Jindal administration have actually driven up the cost of operating state government. We know, too, that at the same time essential programs are experiencing slow deaths resulting from waves of cuts and mid-year shortfalls, that the state has been giving away billions in tax exemptions to corporations that are never reviewed to determine if they are delivering the benefits promised by proponents.

cheap loan personal rate “So, the shifting burden of the cost of government is something our party is going to highlight and examine that in the general context of fairness and shared sacrifice. I believe that discussion sets up in a way that can get everyone’s attention, regardless of race.”

When asked if having Barack Obama in the White House helps or hurts Democratic recruitment in Louisiana, she responded, “I think it helps over the long run. If you look at the generation gap, people under 40 are much more supportive of President Obama, even in Louisiana. He’s inspired a new generation of engaged and motivated young people who want to enter public service, and I think that is a powerful force over time.

“We’re going to see a whole new set of fresh leaders emerge for Democrats that cut their teeth supporting the president. The nature of Barack Obama’s story is about the best recruitment pitch for young folks who want to get involved in public service. I think, too, the Affordable Care Act will prove to be a very popular program in Louisiana because it will improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of residents who currently can’t afford regular access to health care.”

She also believes that the Affordable Care Act is “tailor made for a state like Louisiana where we have a lot of small businesses that can’t always afford to provide coverage to their employees, where fewer companies of any size are able to afford coverage for their employees and families, and for those who for whatever reason cannot afford health insurance. This law will profoundly change their lives and, with that, will come a change in perceptions of President Obama.”

Carter Peterson stopped short of predicting whether the legislature could return to Democratic control anytime soon. “I believe we can get there, but the redistricting that took place last year locked in the current House and Senate district maps for three state election cycles. It was a process controlled by the governor and Republicans, so there are some advantages for them that are baked into the maps.”

“Having said that, if we do the hard work of party building, if we address the issues, challenges and opportunities confronting the state in a pragmatic way, then I believe we can reverse the increasingly rigid, ideological approach to governing being pushed by Republican leaders. Much of our problems are of our own making. For too long we were ceded the public discussion to Republicans, which created a vacuum that they gladly filled. Those days are over. Our party is going to aggressively articulate a vision for our state that we believe leads to a better future for our people. And, after all, that’s what politics and governing is supposed to be about — improving the lives of every Louisiana citizen, not just a select few.”

This article was originally published in the May 21, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper