Yesterday, I made an important announcement: I am running for the United States Senate against Republican incumbent David Vitter.
My wife Peachy and I are going to run a campaign that starts from the ground up -- around kitchen tables, fence posts and barbershops -- not out of Washington with all the slick mumbo-jumbo that ends up dividing us.
We've seen enough division out of Washington. What we haven't seen nearly enough of is problem-solving -- and that's why I'm running.
I hope you'll visit CharlieMelancon.com to watch a special announcement video we just released, and to learn how you can get involved in our campaign.
I think too many of the politicians in Washington have forgotten simple ideals like solving problems and helping neighbors. The Washington game is more about scoring points or sticking it to the other guy. Well, that's not a game I'm interested in playing. And it's a game my state of Louisiana -- and our country -- can no longer afford.
I believe we need a different approach in Washington -- an approach that is more bipartisan, more disciplined, more honest and with a whole lot more common sense than we're getting from David Vitter. I will work with anyone or stand up to anyone if it's the right thing to do for my state and my country.
As a businessman, my background has been about demanding accountability, getting results and solving problems, and I know government in Washington can do a lot better with the money it already has.
I want to bring diverse perspectives together to solve problems relating to health care, energy security, economic revitalization, deficit control, and the myriad other issues that Americans care about.
I'm a proud fighter for the little guy and the people of my state who are struggling to make ends meet. That's what Louisiana values are about.
Yet when David Vitter walks onto the floor of the U.S. Senate, he seems to be checking those values at the door.
He told us he was going to take care of the deficit. The truth is that he packed the stimulus bill with $250 million in pork barrel projects, then voted against it so it would look like he was keeping his promise.
David Vitter told Louisiana he was going to clean up politics. Then he went to Washington and voted against important ethics reform.
It's a story we've heard over and over -- David Vitter talks one way at home, then walks another way in Washington. And that kind of politics is a luxury we just can't afford -- not at a time when we have so many tough problems to solve together.
But there's one thing Senator Vitter can afford -- in fact, he can afford just as much of it as he pleases: a campaign of negativity and attacks designed to distract voters, courtesy of contributions from the very same special interests he told us he was going to Washington to fight. I'm going to do my very best to compete with this, but it won't be easy. That's why I need the support of each and every person who wants a Senator who cares more about solving problems than scoring points.
I hope that you will take a moment to visit my new campaign website, CharlieMelancon.com, and watch my announcement video detailing why I am running to represent the great people of Louisiana in the United States Senate. I pledge that I will be a Senator that you all can be proud of -- and that is something that will never change.
Lloyd Garver: Porn Business Is Sagging
Ironically, the internet, that porn-filled swamp, is killing the professional porn industry.
Allison Kilkenny: While Congress Dallies, Desperate Americans Seek Free Health Care
The day before six centrist Senators signed a letter to halt health care reform, citizens were lining up for health care provided by Remote Area Medical, a non-profit relief corps dedicated to providing free health care.
Mike Lux: Pushing Toward Closure (and Cloture) on Health Care
All of us in this fight -- from Obama, Reid, and Pelosi to all of us who are progressive activists -- need to ratchet up the pressure even more than the insurance company lobbyists.
At a rally, Michele Bachmann and David Vitter said that if states don't like the final health care bill, they just shouldn't enforce it. They claim the 10th Amendment backs them up.
The Online Office of Congressman Charlie Melancon - Home
Charlie Melancon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melancon Takes on Vitter in Louisiana - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
Give us some more detail.
I didn't see a single mention of New Orleans. Are you gonna take our votes for granted?
79 hits, you must be frolicking around like a teenage girl just asked to the prom.
Problem is, your gonna be stood up just like her.
You are a republican, dude. Nobody is taking you anywhere.
Go away, loser
"I think too many of the politicians in Washington have forgotten simple ideals like solving problems and helping neighbors."
This is where conservatives are concerned. People accuse me of being a hater and being a racist because I am against government involvement in health care. No one ever asks why. They just make ignorant assumptions and then start with the name calling. Our federal government takes in nearly $4 TRILLION dollars every year in taxes. Yet they never seem to have enough money for simple things like fixing our schools or improving health care and helping those in need. We seem to have plenty of money to fund NASA. We seem to have plenty of money to invent bigger, better, and more EXPENSIVE ways to kill the enemy. We seem to be able to give billions of dollars away every year in foreign aid. But we can't seem to fix our schools and we can't seem to fix health care. I'm tired of hearing that the solution is to raise taxes. Every major entitlement program started by this government is either bankrupt or on the way to bankruptcy. Their solution is to just collect more money. It's like trying ween an addict by giving them more and more of the drug they abuse. When I start seeing RESPONSIBLE government spending (from BOTH parties) then I will consider listening to pleas for more money. Until then they can talk to the hand.
He's like the Bob Seagar song, "Like a Rock".
Or maybe Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick". Either/or, impenetrable.
It must be hard trying to talk to so many dining room tables.
So the sad truth is that Melancon may be as good as we can get in Louisiana.
J
Anyone but Vitter.
Sounds like a lot of rhetoric to me. What do you actually stand for? Accountability? So I take it you are for prosecuting former Bush administration officials for violating the constitution and international law? Oh, I forgot that being bi-partisan means not holding Republicans accountable.
"I'm a proud fighter for the little guy and the people of my state who are struggling to make ends meet."
Really? So I take it you are for a more progressive tax system, bigger investments in public education and universal healthcare? Oh, I forgot, fighting for the little guy just means protecting gun rights, subsidies for big agribusiness, and voting against any attempt to increase entitlements or social services for the poor. Because the little guy cares so much about fiscal responsibility...
Why don't you spell out why any progressive should support your campaign, by concisely stating how far to the left you are of Vitter on the major issues, instead of pretending to be above ideology and devoted to "problem solving" and "bi-partisanship." Tell us what policies you stand for. Bi-partisanship and problem solving are not policies.
If that is your stance, I take it you will NOT be voting for Obama in 2012, nor supporting any of your Democratic colleagues in 2010 or 2012.....
Since neither Obama nor the Democratic majority has done anything to address EITHER of these issues.