The flap came two days after former state Supreme Court Justice Chet Traylor unexpectedly filed to run against the first-term senator in the Aug. 28 GOP primary, leading some local Republicans to believe Vitter was seeking to shore up his conservative base.
“I think he’s just solidifying his base, and making sure no one is going to run to his right,” said Jeff Crouere, a Tea Party leader and activist in Louisiana. “I think Vitter knows what he’s doing. He seems to be pretty aware of politics in Louisiana.”
Democrats view Vitter as vulnerable this fall because of several scandals in his first term in the Senate, although polls show him leading likely Democratic nominee Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) by comfortable, double-digit margins.
Traylor acknowledged in an interview with POLITICO that some of Vitter’s scandals, including his admission that he made “a very serious sin in my past” in conjunction in a prostitution scandal with the “D.C. Madam” in 2007, were part of his motivation for running.
See the full article from “Politico”
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