It is a given with most political observers that a Republican candidate will win Louisiana’s fifth congressional district election. Still, we were left uneasy after watching PAR’s candidate forum (available for viewing on their YouTube channel).

Those participating were the following: Senator Stewart Cathey, Misti Cordell, chairwoman of the Louisiana Board of Regents, Representative Mike Echols, Rep Gabe Firment, Dan McKay, attorney, and Rep Pat Moore. Moore and McKay were the Democrats of the bunch.

Mr McKay disqualified himself pretty handily. His answers to nearly every question were long and rambling and not very germane to the issues being discussed.

Sen Cathey and Rep Echols came across like robots programmed by conventional Republican advisors, mouthing some really worn out slogans and platitudes – Sen Cathey especially so. They were also the two who seemed to lose sight of the fact that the 5th district isn’t just a squiggly shape carved out of a monocultural blob on a map called America. There actually is a unique Anglo-Celtic-French-African culture here in this part of Louisiana, in this part of the South, but you wouldn’t know that if you listened to Sen Cathey and Rep Echols.

Rep Firment turned himself into a one-trick pony, focusing too much on his insurance reform legislation. We do give him credit for bringing God and Church into the discussion, however. Too many people in politics want to make themselves autonomous from Christ rather than subordinate to Him. Rep Firment’s mention of God’s guidance of His life was a refreshing departure from that.

Mrs Cordell also brought religion into the debate in her opening statement, calling herself a ‘woman of faith’. But that was the end of it, which begs the question, faith in what or whom? Zeus? Allah? Krishna? The Holy Trinity? That question was never answered, which is unfortunate. If Republicans are going to bring up faith, they need to be confident enough to say clearly what they believe. This kind of timid phrasing on something so important and foundational is about as pleasant to listen to as drinking a steaming glass of horse urine.

Mrs Cordell presented herself in classic outsider fashion, but unfortunately to such a degree that her amateurism would seem to disqualify her rather than promote confidence in her. If someone is so bereft of political experience as she says she is, there is strong reason to believe that she will simply be overwhelmed by the lobbyists and others who make up the powerful Establishment in DC were she to win the election.

Which brings us to Rep Moore. Surprisingly, of all the candidates, she presented herself as the most pragmatic and down-to-earth. All of her answers to the questions were focused and direct and shied away from scripted, programmatic responses that many of

the others gave. And she was able to do that without sounding like a shrieking, lunatic banshee like so many other Leftist Democrats holding or campaigning for office.

Folks shouldn’t misunderstand: We’re not endorsing Rep Moore by any stretch of the imagination. Her solutions to problems in the 5th district and beyond is mostly the standard utopian schema of more government spending, and her election would empower even more destructive characters in Congress. But by giving a calm, rational voice to people’s concerns about major upheavals like giant data centers being placed in their neighborhoods without any input from them or about rising prices across the board, it is possible, given the headwinds that Republicans are currently facing, that she could cause more of a fuss on election day than folks are expecting. Strange things have happened in the 5th district before, like Rodney Alexander’s election.

The only Republican who seemed to match Rep Moore’s nonrobotic, folksy presentation was Mrs Cordell, although she has her drawbacks, as noted above.

We appreciate PAR giving us some insight into these candidates who up till now have remained mostly unknown characters on a placard or in an advertisement. For Republicans, those revelations were mostly unsettling. The candidates have a few more weeks to allay those fears. Hopefully someone will rise up out of the crowd to do that. But for now, conservatives have reason to look with trepidation upon their choices.