Chet Traylor, the Republican primary challenger to Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), appeared on the Washington Post/ABC News program “Top Line” yesterday in his first-ever television interview in support of his nascent campaign. And although the hosts tried hard to get him to tell them what the rumored newest scandal Vitter might face, Traylor was having none of it.
“Rick, the only thing I can tell is what the people have been telling me: that they want a viable alternative to vote for in this upcoming primary,” he said. He added, “You guys are the ones who have been reporting the problems, and I’m sure that you all are keeping up with that a whole lot closer than I am.”
They were no more successful in getting Traylor to admit that his own reportedly colorful personal life should be the subject of voter scrutiny. When asked whether one’s personal life should be open to examination, Traylor had an answer to that, too.
I think there’s a huge difference with a personal sin, something you have to live with yourself. It’s something else when you break the law, when you allow the people around you to break the law. That’s an entirely different ballgame.
Traylor, under questioning, admitted he also doesn’t think that Vitter has been an effective Senator, pointing to his thin list of legislative accomplishments and declaring, “It’s awful easy to be against everything. It’s something else to be for something, to get something accomplished.”
When asked about the substantive policy differences between the two men, Traylor pointed to Vitter’s support for capping BP’s liability, saying that “Louisiana has already lost a generation of fisherman,” among other effects from the Gulf Spill, and that he doesn’t think that taxpayers and his potential constituents should be on the hook for a company that, in his words, ignored safety regulations.
Watch the video below:
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