Is Vitter picking sides in Boustany-Landry race?

U.S. Sen. David Vitter is raising a few eyebrows over a set of town hall meetings scheduled this week—more so for who his guest will be and where the meetings are being held. Vitter will be joined by U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, a fellow Republican from New Iberia. The topics will be federal spending and debt. While Vitter has similar town hall meetings planned in coming weeks in other areas of the state, the scheduled events with Landry are somewhat unique. That’s because they’re being held outside of the 3rd Congressional District, which sent Landry to Capitol Hill last year. The duo will instead travel to Lake Charles on Wednesday and Lafayette on Thursday: the two most populous cities in the 7th Congressional District, which is currently held by U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette. Due to redistricting, Louisiana will lose one congressional seat next year, which happens to be Landry’s district. As a result, Landry would need to seek re-election in Boustany’s district, and the town hall meetings in Acadiana are being viewed as an opening battle for the 2012 campaign. Radio ads have been purchased promoting the meetings, and they mention Vitter and Landry together no fewer than five times, creating the impression that they’re a policymaking team. Could this mean that Vitter plans to endorse the rookie from New Iberia against the veteran Boustany next year? “I wouldn’t want to speculate on that,” Landry said in an interview last week. “But I think it’s safe to say the senator and I do enjoy a very close relationship when it comes to politics and issues.” —Jeremy Alford