Besides being loyal Democrats, John and Jane Shuler of Orangeburg had a special reason for attending the state party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Friday night in Columbia.

"We're here to see Mary," said John Shuler, referring to the keynote speaker, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. "My wife taught her in the seventh and eighth grade in New Orleans."

That was around 1967 or 1968 in a Catholic girls' school, Jane Shuler added.

"Mary is one of nine children and I remember that he always signed her papers that Jane would send home," John Shuler said.

"I taught her French," Jane Shuler said, "and he would always sign in French. Isn't that neat? That's pretty good for a daddy who has a lot of kids. ... She had a great daddy. He was mayor of New Orleans when we were down there."

Moon Landrieu went on to become U.S. secretary of commerce in the Carter Administration, John Shuler said.

His daughter, too, is pursuing a career in politics and "we've been following her all along," Jane Shuler said.

"I've got a McCall's magazine from 1990 where they talked about potential women presidential candidates, and she's in it. I brought it tonight to show it to her," Jane Shuler added. "I can't wait to see her."

'She beat George W.'

Landrieu was Louisiana's state treasurer at the time of the article. Since then, she lost a race for governor but won election to the U.S. Senate and membership on the Armed Services Committee.

Last year, President Bush took a personal interest in trying to thwart her re-election bid. The Republican Party poured $15 million into the race.

President Bush and his father, the former President Bush, both visited Louisiana on behalf of her Republican opponent. So did Rudy Giuliani, Trent Lott, Elizabeth Dole and other party heavy-hitters.

Landrieu won re-election anyway. "She beat George W.," exulted South Carolina U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings. "Mary's victory gave us hope," added the state's senior senator.

"We did beat all the Bushes," Landrieu said in an intentional double entendre. Eschewing "newfangled" campaign targeting techniques, "we walked door to door," she explained.

"The message was real; it was authentic. ... It was a great message of hope," she said. It focused on:

-- The economy. "This is about economic growth. People need jobs. We need to send leaders to Washington, not a rubber-stamp for the president."

-- The military. It was Democratic leaders who ensured that the military had the weaponry it needed for victory in Iraq, she noted. "We have to be a military superpower." On the other hand, she believes Bush was too quick to turn to the "last resort" of armed conflict. "We also have to be a diplomatic superpower" and "talk our way, work our way" out of conflicts.

-- Education. Pointing to financial crises in 49 of the 50 states, she noted, "You cannot have reform in education if you don't have the resources."

Landrieu spoke of the need to unite, not divide; to "build up, not tear down"; and to represent "the people that clean the buildings, not only those that own them."

She thanked 6th District U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina for making numerous trips to Louisiana to boost her campaign. "That's how I won," she said.

"Building hope is harder than tearing down, but we will do it," Landrieu said. "We will get the job done."

Teacher layoffs

Also addressing the crowd of 900 or more was the state superintendent of education, Inez Tenenbaum.

"We are fighting for the future of public education, to keep together the initiatives Gov. (Jim) Hodges put together," she said.

Tenenbaum said the Republican-dominated Legislature's proposed level of state funding for public education would require laying off 10 percent of the state's public school teachers.

At a time when the state is struggling to fulfill the new federal No Child Left Behind law, state funding is being cut until "there's no behind left," Tenenbaum said.

Out with a bang

Dinner guests also bade farewell to the state party's executive director, Dick Harpootlian, whose penchant for salty and pointed language was lampooned in a profanity-laced video presentation.

"I will not deny I like the fight. I relish it," Harpootlian said afterward. "It's been one helluva ride. ... As long as I'm leaving (office) tomorrow, I might as well talk" some more.

-- About health care, education and critical infrastructure needs -- Harpootlian said the good news is that President Bush has found money to meet these critical needs. "Unfortunately it's for Iraq, and not here. How are we, post-Iraq, going to put THIS country back together?"

-- About Gov. Sanford's first 100 days -- "It's not just about winning. It's about what you do after you win. This crowd has no concept of what to do. ... Martian Mark ... spends his political capital on photo opportunities, appearing to do something" but having little to show for it. Hodges shepherded both the First Steps school readiness program and a school construction bond bill through the Legislature in his first 100 days.

-- About a Republican reapportionment proposal -- "The Republicans have used that to re-segregate the state. ... If we do not stop them, we will not have a Democratic Party. We will have a black party and a white party." The new districts "look like snakes that slither into and out of communities."

-- About continued controversy over public display of the Confederate flag -- "Good God Almighty!" Harpootlian declared. "We've got all kinds of issues to talk about" -- education, roads, clean air, crime, jobs, health care, taxes -- "and we're talking about the friggin' flag?!"

T&D Staff Writer Lee Hendren can be reached by e-mail at lhendren@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5552.

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