Don’t tell us you’re shocked about this, but failed Democrat mayoral candidate Ted James, who came in third in the Nov. 5 primary behind Republican Sid Edwards and Democrat incumbent Sharon Broome, just endorsed Broome.

Oh yes, this is a bombshell announcement.

Whatever.

WAFB didn’t seem all that impressed…

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome stood smiling today next to someone she told WAFB was sexist, underhanded, and a liar — going as far as to say Ted James said offensive things about black women.

“Here in Baton Rouge, I believe we have no place for sexism or misogyny and the fact that he would present that black women cannot work with other people is pretty offensive to me,” Broome told WAFB on Oct. 23.

For his part, former mayoral candidate Ted James also stood smiling today next to someone he said was “reckless” with the truth as a mayor and willing to use what he called “classless stunts” just to get elected, saying over and over Sharon Weston Broome needed to go.

“We’ve had eight years and the question is, is Baton Rouge better off?” James said on Election Day. “We hear consistently all across this parish that people are ready for change.”

WAFB asked James what changed in just a matter of weeks.

“There is only one person that is in this race that has the ability to move Baton Rouge forward and that’s Mayor Broome,” James said today. “I ran and I was excited to run but that election is over and we have a new election. In this election, I am asking every single person who believed in me to trust me and support Mayor Broome.”

Following the release of a secret recording of Ted James, Broome sat down with WAFB on Oct. 23 and said this:

“I will tell you that Ted James has consistently lied on me and he’s been lying to the people.”

WAFB asked Mayor Broome today, if she truly thought all of this, why she would accept the endorsement.

“We’re not looking back, we’re not going to dwell on the campaign – who said what to who,” Broome said. “We are going to unite and move forward.”

The utter lack of credibility on both sides of that endorsement is downright comical, isn’t it? Ted James trashed Sharon Broome in every way he possibly could have, and those were basically the only true things he said during his mayoral run. He raised over a million dollars in that campaign pitching to business interests who desperately wanted to get rid of her, promising to reverse course from her policies and management style in virtually every way possible.

Now he says she’s the only one who can “move Baton Rouge forward?”

She’s been in that job eight years. Why didn’t she move Baton Rouge forward enough that you wouldn’t support her rather than run against her?

Probably because she’s black and Ted James might be the most racist politician in Louisiana. With apologies to Gary Chambers, of course.

Clownish. He’s a clown.

Of course, we aren’t saying anything new here. Ted James has always been a clown. Had he won this race he would have been worse than Broome – that’s what his voting record in the state legislature, which was bottom ten in both houses for pretty much the entire time he was at the Capitol from an economic standpoint, clearly showed.

And Broome trashed James in every way she could as well, calling him a sexist because he said that white people would rather deal with black men than black women and essentially sending her soon-to-be campaign manager to politically catfish him and get him on tape hanging himself, only now to embrace him. Is that credible?

Of course not.

Does Sharon Broome go around asking for endorsements from people who also endorse serial rapists enough to stand in their weddings? Of course she does. Ain’t no shame in her game.

It’s why Sid Edwards, the non-politician in the race, got more votes than either of the professional politicians.

We’re told that James spent more than a week essentially catatonic after he lost that race, and that he had a clear mental breakdown. Disappointment is rough on everybody, but you do wonder about somebody who loses their marbles over a mayor’s race. Is having power over your fellow man really such a prize that you’d lose your mental health over not getting it?

To somebody who shouldn’t have that power, the answer is yes. To normal people, it’s a disappointment, but then you dust yourself off and move on with your life.

WAFB quoted radio host Jim Engster as saying James’ endorsement of Broome was about preserving his future in the Louisiana Democrat Party. That’s probably true. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him turn up as a candidate for Cleo Fields’ soon-to-be-vacated state senate seat as Fields moves on to Congress, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the field largely cleared for him. The implication being that this was the deal he got for endorsing Broome.

We’re not saying this is what happened. It’s just a scenario that wouldn’t surprise us.

But those Republicans who went around telling us we had to vote for Ted James because a Republican couldn’t win and that he was our only hope of moving on from Broome probably won’t have much to say today. Which is a good thing, because the credibility deficit extends pretty far in Baton Rouge now.