Melancon’s Senate candidacy appears to ensure a competitive Democratic bid to oust Vitter — who won the seat in 2004 and is seeking a second term — though it also puts at risk the Democrats’ hold on the strongly conservative south-central 3rd District that Melancon has represented since 2005.
“I’m announcing my candidacy for the U.S. Senate to replace David Vitter because Louisiana deserves better,” Melancon said in an Internet video e-mailed to supporters. “Louisiana needs a different approach. More bi-partisan. More disciplined. More honest and with a whole lot more common sense.”
Democrats have consistently argued that Vitter is vulnerable for 2010, in part because of the scandal he faced after the 2007 revelation that his name was in the phone records of a Washington, D.C., escort service associated with prostitution. And Melancon — a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative-leaning House Democrats — provides the party with a formidable opponent for Vitter.
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