Out of federal prison and on home detention, former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards has a new job as a consultant to a private business owned by the head of the state Democratic Party. Edwards, a colorful, populist Democrat who dominated state politics for decades, has been hired by party Chairman Claude “Buddy” Leach, says a spokesman for the state Democratic Party. But Kevin Franck, the party spokesman, stressed that Edwards, who served eight years in prison for a corruption conviction, “will not receive a paycheck from and will have no role in the Louisiana Democratic Party.” Clancy DuBos, chairman of The Gambit, a New Orleans newspaper, says this will raise the perception of the “good old boy” system, and it sends a poor message to some about the state Democratic Party.
Today’s poll question: Does it hurt the image of the Louisiana Democratic Party for former Gov. Edwin Edwards to be working for the head of the state organization?
