So this was interesting.

Anh “Joseph” Cao, certainly the furthest-left Republican in the House, who voted for ObamaCare, …eh, enough said. Having been elected in a heavily (and I mean heavily) Democratic district in NOLA, beating out ethically starved incumbent William Jefferson, John Boehner declared triumphantly at the time that “the future is Cao.” His election came a mere month after Mr. Obama’s being elected president, and while it was an important morale booster for Republicans at the time, nobody actually expected him to follow the voting pattern of Michele Bachmann.

Now, Barack Obama has not only endorsed Cao’s opponent, one Cedric Richmond (incidentally, also ethically starved), but has made Richmond’s campaign the recipient of Obama’s very first general election ad of the season. Curiouser and curiouser. The one Republican who Obama could conceivably endorse is the first incumbent Obama chooses to totally and ruthlessly, um, screw over.

I wonder, what’s the connection? Basketball buddies? Is he Reggie Love’s cousin? Or is he simply the best congressman for the people of Lousiana’s 2nd district as determined by the objective analysis of the Obama White House, whose primary concern this first week of October is the electoral representation of the people of Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district?

But of course, there’s the obvious: he’s black. In a black district, which is currently represented by some Asian who got there practically by accident anyway, right? Obama’s voice will go a long way here, considering his approval among blacks is still over 90%–and I’m guessing the other 10% are either the few-and-far-between Republicans or accidentally pressed the wrong button during the robo-call. His support among the demographic is solid.

I honestly can’t think of another explanation, other than they (the Obama White House) know they can sway the vast body of voters in LA-02 by having Obama simply tell them what to do (in one of the few districts where this might actually work), and every congressman helps. The Democratic majority could conceivably hinge on one or two representatives.

It’s just sad, though, that this is where it begins. There’s no other way around it: this is identity politics.

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