Two heavyweight contenders are now in the 2010 Senate race.Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, announced Aug. 27 he will challenge incumbent Republican Sen. David Vitter in 2010 — a challenge many political observers characterize as an uphill battle for the Democrat, considering the lopsided defeat President Barack Obama suffered in Louisiana in the 2008 Presidential Election.Melancon’s announcement came after weeks of criticism by state Republicans and Vitter.The Republicans’ attack has been two-pronged — first, by questioning why Melancon has held no health care town hall meetings during the Congressional recess.”Charlie Melancon has not held a single town hall meeting,” said Aaron Baer, spokesman for the Louisiana Republican Party, nearly a week before Melancon announced his Senatorial bid. “Instead, he has spent the August recess ducking his constituents’ questions about a taxpayer-funded junket last New Year’s Eve and his vote against an amendment to stop government-run health care.”The second line of criticism characterizes Melancon as a loyal Obama supporter.”Charlie Melancon voted in lock-step with President Obama on other disastrous spending initiatives that will raise taxes, double our national debt in five years and triple it in 10,” reads a statement on Charliemelanconforsenate.com, a Web site launched by Vitter’s campaign to criticize the Democrat.Melancon defends his record by characterizing himself as a conservative Democrat — a blue dog — and arguing it means he can relate to a majority of Louisianians better.”Yes, I’m a Democrat, but the majority of people in Louisiana are Democrats,” Melancon said at during his Senate bid announcement. “They’re conservative Democrats; I’m a conservative Democrat. They’re pro-life; I’m pro-life. They’re pro-gun; I’m pro-gun. I’m an avid hunter and fisherman.”Melancon has voted 91.2 percent of the time with the Democratic Party in the current Congress, according to the Washington Post’s Congressional Votes database. This percentage is similar to other conservative Democrats in the House, and the percentage is comprised of more than 600 votes.He supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in early 2009, a massive new spending bill aimed at boosting the sagging economy, which also drew the ire of the Republican Party. He has tended to support the Democratic Party’s positions on many budget issues. But as a conservative Democrat, he supports efforts to decrease the federal deficit and create deficit-neutral legislation, like supporting the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009.And Melancon has voted against the majority opinion of his Democratic colleagues on many high-profile issues. In 2005, Melancon bucked his party and voted for the controversial bill that gave federal courts jurisdiction in the Terri Schiavo case.He also went against the Democratic grain when he supported a proposed constitutional amendment to ban desecrating the American flag, and he supported another proposed amendment that would have restricted marriage to one man and one woman.He, like Vitter, also voted for stricter immigration laws, supporting the heavily Republican-sponsored Secure Fence Act of 2006.  Vitter has voted with the Republican Party 92.1 percent of the time during the current Congress — a percentage comprised from more than 250 votes.Like Melancon, Vitter supported a constitutional amendment defining marriage and banning flag desecration.Vitter voted against the 2009 stimulus package because of “wasteful spending that did nothing to stimulate our economy.”Both candidates are pro-life, and both have not, so far, supported the Democratic-led health care reform efforts.Despite Melancon’s relatively conservative voting record, most expect a tough race to unseat a Republican — even one who was once embattled by a prostitution scandal like Vitter.”If the election were held this fall, [Melancon’s] campaign might already seem doomed,” wrote John Maginnis, a pundit and columnist on Louisiana politics, on his blog Aug. 28. “But the political landscape could change a lot in a year.”————Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]