BATTLE ROYALE:

Foster gives his support to Terrell: GOP contender, Demo Landrieu spar in Senate race's first debate (Bill Walsh, 11/18/02, The Times-Picayune)

Gov. Foster gave state Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell his long-awaited endorsement Sunday, capping a week in which her former Republican challengers in the U.S. Senate race also fell into line, if belatedly, behind her candidacy. [...]

Meanwhile, what had been billed as a high-pressure, high-stakes, first televised debate between Landrieu and Terrell was lively, to be sure, but free of any knockout punches.

The debate was broadcast nationally on NBC's "Meet the Press," and both campaigns were privately wringing their hands that a gaffe on the highly rated Sunday morning news program would become the defining moment in what is now a three-week campaign leading up to the runoff .

Neither candidate froze up under the relentless "I'll-ask-you-one-more-time" questioning by host Tim Russert, and instead they came out swinging like two hungry prizefighters intent on landing a few jarring blows before the final bell. In a sign of what voters can expect of the campaign, the two New Orleanians declined even to exchange a handshake at the start of the show.

This is a case where it was admirable but politically foolish of Ms Landrieu to debate. Ms Terrell probably doesn't even have 50% name recognition in LA yet, let alone 50% support of the voters. But this national platform elevates her and converts her from merely the survivor of a crowded GOP field to Ms Landrieu's peer.
Posted by Orrin Judd at November 18, 2002 2:21 PM