Washington watch for Dec. 14, 2008
Gerard Shields' is the Washington Correspondent for The Advocate. Call Gerry at the Senate Press Gallery at (202) 224-0241. E-mail him at gshields@theadvocate.com.
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Cao made history with victory
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Two weeks ago, Anh “Joseph” Cao wasn’t a blade of grass in the Washington political landscape. Last week, he was the toast of the town.
The slight, soft-spoken New Orleans Republican stunned the nation Dec. 6 by defeating longtime incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. Cao became the first Vietnamese American ever to be elected to Congress.
Cao spent three days last week doing a victory lap in the Capitol, meeting with House leaders and getting oriented for a job no one believed he could attain. The win instantly made Cao a national figure, viewed as one of the saviors to the national Republican Party.
The victory, along with a GOP Senate win in Georgia, is being held up as an example that Republicans — who suffered a drubbing in an election where they lost 21 more House seats — are not dead. Yet for a few days last week, reporters and politicians were still trying to figure out how to pronounce Cao’s last name. (It’s gow.)
“The future is Cao,” House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said in a memo he sent out last week.
Neither Boehner nor any of the other Republican House leaders contributed a dime to Cao’s campaign. Republican political committees did inject $84,000 during the last weeks when it looked like Cao could pull off the upset.
And the national GOP is once again pointing to Louisiana as an example of its diversity and inclusiveness. Gov. Bobby Jindal, a former Republican congressman, is an Indian American.
Cao said last week that the party should be excited about Louisiana’s new dynamic duo. A decade ago, the state was known for the campaign of a former Ku Klux Klan leader.
“They believe that this could be the future image of the party,” Cao said last week of the national Republicans. “We don’t have the image of David Duke hanging over our heads.”
Cao’s victory lends itself to being a heroic political storybook. One of eight children, Cao was stuffed onto a helicopter three days before the fall of Saigon in his war-ravaged South Vietnam homeland. He was 8 when he came to America.
His father, a South Vietnamese military officer, was sent to a prison camp by the communists for six years. Cao and his brother and sister were taken in by an uncle and it wasn’t until 1991 when he was reunited with his father.
He eventually found himself in Houston, where he completed high school. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Baylor University in 1990. He then studied to be a Jesuit priest before getting a degree in philosophy from Fordham University.
He taught philosophy at Loyola University in New Orleans, where he got a law degree. He opened a practice specializing in immigration law and was a leader in the Vietnamese community in eastern New Orleans.
The father of two daughters and married to a pharmacist wife, Cao and his family lost everything in 2005 when the flood following Hurricane Katrina dumped 8 feet of water into his home. Last year, he lost a race for the Louisiana House coming up 250 votes short of making the runoff as an independent.
His wife called him “crazy” when he told her he was going to challenge Jefferson, a political giant in New Orleans who was seeking his 10th two-year term. But Cao saw Jefferson as vulnerable after Jefferson pleaded not guilty to 16 public corruption charges after the FBI found $90,000 of its money in his home freezer.
This time, Cao benefited from a political perfect storm. Because of Hurricane Gustav, the general election for the seat was pushed to Dec. 6. Democrats and black voters —two of every three voters in the district — stayed home.
Cao, who put up $70,000 of his own money, was at a serious financial disadvantage to Jefferson, who raised $800,000 for his primary, runoff and general election campaigns. But the improbable happened, a lucky punch that landed on Jefferson’s jaw for the knockout.
Cao appeared on CNN the day after the win and, by midweek, estimated that he had been interviewed by more than 125 reporters. Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Metairie hosted a “meet and greet” reception for Cao on his arrival to Washington last Wednesday at the Republican National Committee offices.
Scalise, whose district is adjacent to Cao’s, said the newest member of Congress can expect to be in the Washington spotlight for quite some time.
“Cao may not realize this, but he’s going to be well-received when he gets here,” Scalise said.
The slight, soft-spoken New Orleans Republican stunned the nation Dec. 6 by defeating longtime incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. Cao became the first Vietnamese American ever to be elected to Congress.
Cao spent three days last week doing a victory lap in the Capitol, meeting with House leaders and getting oriented for a job no one believed he could attain. The win instantly made Cao a national figure, viewed as one of the saviors to the national Republican Party.
The victory, along with a GOP Senate win in Georgia, is being held up as an example that Republicans — who suffered a drubbing in an election where they lost 21 more House seats — are not dead. Yet for a few days last week, reporters and politicians were still trying to figure out how to pronounce Cao’s last name. (It’s gow.)
“The future is Cao,” House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said in a memo he sent out last week.
Neither Boehner nor any of the other Republican House leaders contributed a dime to Cao’s campaign. Republican political committees did inject $84,000 during the last weeks when it looked like Cao could pull off the upset.
And the national GOP is once again pointing to Louisiana as an example of its diversity and inclusiveness. Gov. Bobby Jindal, a former Republican congressman, is an Indian American.
Cao said last week that the party should be excited about Louisiana’s new dynamic duo. A decade ago, the state was known for the campaign of a former Ku Klux Klan leader.
“They believe that this could be the future image of the party,” Cao said last week of the national Republicans. “We don’t have the image of David Duke hanging over our heads.”
Cao’s victory lends itself to being a heroic political storybook. One of eight children, Cao was stuffed onto a helicopter three days before the fall of Saigon in his war-ravaged South Vietnam homeland. He was 8 when he came to America.
His father, a South Vietnamese military officer, was sent to a prison camp by the communists for six years. Cao and his brother and sister were taken in by an uncle and it wasn’t until 1991 when he was reunited with his father.
He eventually found himself in Houston, where he completed high school. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Baylor University in 1990. He then studied to be a Jesuit priest before getting a degree in philosophy from Fordham University.
He taught philosophy at Loyola University in New Orleans, where he got a law degree. He opened a practice specializing in immigration law and was a leader in the Vietnamese community in eastern New Orleans.
The father of two daughters and married to a pharmacist wife, Cao and his family lost everything in 2005 when the flood following Hurricane Katrina dumped 8 feet of water into his home. Last year, he lost a race for the Louisiana House coming up 250 votes short of making the runoff as an independent.
His wife called him “crazy” when he told her he was going to challenge Jefferson, a political giant in New Orleans who was seeking his 10th two-year term. But Cao saw Jefferson as vulnerable after Jefferson pleaded not guilty to 16 public corruption charges after the FBI found $90,000 of its money in his home freezer.
This time, Cao benefited from a political perfect storm. Because of Hurricane Gustav, the general election for the seat was pushed to Dec. 6. Democrats and black voters —two of every three voters in the district — stayed home.
Cao, who put up $70,000 of his own money, was at a serious financial disadvantage to Jefferson, who raised $800,000 for his primary, runoff and general election campaigns. But the improbable happened, a lucky punch that landed on Jefferson’s jaw for the knockout.
Cao appeared on CNN the day after the win and, by midweek, estimated that he had been interviewed by more than 125 reporters. Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Metairie hosted a “meet and greet” reception for Cao on his arrival to Washington last Wednesday at the Republican National Committee offices.
Scalise, whose district is adjacent to Cao’s, said the newest member of Congress can expect to be in the Washington spotlight for quite some time.
“Cao may not realize this, but he’s going to be well-received when he gets here,” Scalise said.
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