NoDef's intrepid columnist takes a gonzo-esque fall into the local health care system.

Republican David Vitter's landslide in the U.S. Senate race was expected last night, but that doesn't make it any less bewildering to Dems who licked their chops when Vitter's oft-mentioned 'sins' surfaced a few years back. An AP exit poll provided some explanation for Vitter's good fortune. The poll found more than half the state's voters didn't like Vitter, even though almost two-thirds apparently sighed and voted for him. We hate to say it, but the Wall Street Journal editorial page might be right. Louisiana voters seemed to have less patience for Barack Obama than they did for affairs and hypocrisy. Vitter's team capitalized on that sentiment, frequently making Charlie Melancon's fringe connection to signature Obama issues seem like the coming of the Four Horsemen.

Last updated 1:20 AM

Election Day is upon the Bayou State. We are once again free to gaze blankly into the TV screen, unbothered by the vile repression of that haunting music and sinister voice in attack ads. Live from this really comfy couch,  we at NoDef endeavor to join in the newfound liberation. Throughout the night, we'll have live updates on all the hastily-compiled results, ungraceful losing, misguided muttering, and epic entrance soundtrack choices as they unfold.

Unlike some of his political counterparts, Democrat Cedric Richmond appears to have declined to run last-minute negative ads against Joseph Cao, his Republican opponent in the race for Congress. Turns out, Richmond didn't need to. Cao is being attacked anyway - from the right. The Family Research Council ran its own last-minute radio ad accusing the Congressperson of being too sympathetic toward "radical social agendas of homosexual activists." How many hours till this is over again?

As voters gear up to cast their ballot tomorrow, it's been easy to figure out which candidates are down in the polls. In these final days, across the noble canyons of democracy echo the sweet siren song of last-minute attack ads. The very roots of the tree of our country's civic life to be sure! Details after the jump.

For a while it seemed Cedric Richmond might be above waging a hyperbolic attack campagin on his opponent through the mail. Well, Richmond reminds us this week that he is a politician after all. The Democrat's response (right)  to Anh "Joseph" Cao's earlier attack mailers portrays the incumbent Congressperson as Pinnochio - complete with extended nose. More after the jump.

We don't trust polls, but we do trust our mailboxes. No, not our inboxes. You know, mailboxes! The ones that snails deliver to. By the looks of the colorful sheets strewn about the stacks of catalogs and credit card offers we'll never fall for again, Anh "Joseph" Cao appears to think he's down in the race to win back his U.S. House seat. Over the weekend, he began throwing mud-filled lobs (tarballs?), like the one pictured to the right, through the mail as part of his wobbly negative campaign against Cedric Richmond. Details, and info on Richmond's own attempted jab, after the jump.

The stakes are high in the race to represent a large chunk of the metro area in Congress. But the candidates' voices were low Tuesday night.

If the Richmond v. Cao grudge match was a high school, Anh 'Joseph' Cao would be the jealous, unpopular kid who tried to make friends by spreading rumors about the cool kids. Cedric Richmond, meanwhile, would be that kid that wasn't necessarily selling drugs or anything cool like that, but still seemed to know the cool people. Richmond lined up some of the Democratic party's cool kids this week, signalling that he's not going to let Cao drag him mudward. To add to his Obama spot, Mayor Mitch lent Richmond the Hype Machine for an ad that rolled out during the LSU-Florida squeaker. Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine was in town to talk up the Ced. We remain unimpressed - until he gets Oprah.