President George W. Bush is not the only candidate targeting Louisiana in the 2004 presidential election.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will be campaigning in the state today and tomorrow, speaking at events in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
“We are happy to welcome Sen. Kerry to Louisiana for the third time in the past month,” said Mike Skinner, Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, in a party press release.
Derek Wooley, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party, said the Kerry campaign has announced they are targeting the state, and Kerry has shown his commitment to Louisiana’s people.
“Kerry believes Louisiana is a strong democratic state and a state he can win,” Wooley said.
Tonight, Kerry will speak at the “Jambalaya Jamboree” at the Governor’s Mansion. The event is hosted by the state Democratic party as a thank you from the party to its Louisiana constituents.
“We are thrilled that Sen. John Kerry is making Louisiana and Louisiana families a top priority in his campaign for President,” said Gov. Kathleen Blanco in the press release. “I am very excited to be able to host this event for the Louisiana Democratic Party and the eventual Democratic Presidential Nominee.”
Admission to the event is by ticket only and will begin at 4:30 p.m. Kerry is tentatively scheduled to speak at 7:20 p.m.
The Massachusetts senator will go to New Orleans tomorrow, where he will deliver a commencement address at Southern University at New Orleans. SUNO’s commencement will be held at the UNO Kiefer Lakefront Arena beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Kerry’s Louisiana appearances this weekend are part of an effort to win Louisiana this November — a state Bush won in the 2000 presidential election.
“We’re going to do what we did in 1992 and 1996 and galvanize the party,” Wooley said.
Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, won Louisiana’s presidential delegates in both the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections.
Further portraying Louisiana as a “battleground state,” President Bush will speak to voters when he speaks at LSU’s commencement ceremony May 21.