On the campaign
trail: David Duke's
strength is his
appeal to frustrated
whites, who often
greet his
appearance and
remarks with
enthusiasm.
RNS Photo/Wide World
at Is David Duke's Appeal?
I
t is a foggy, seasonably humid and
sticky night in Kenner, an all-white
suburb near the New Orleans Air-
port. Kenner is about 20 miles west
of New Orleans, and an overflow crowd
has gathered for a David Duke rally in
a meeting room of the Holiday Inn.
In the week before the rally, a 21-
year-old Tulane University student
was shot and killed in New Orleans by
a mugger as she walked to catch a trol-
ley to her part-time job. A day later, a
pizza store manager was slain by a
robber.
To the people at the rally, such
things won't happen when Rep. Duke
climbs the electoral ladder. They feel
that New Orleans, which has an in-
creasingly black population and now
has a black administration, is falter-
ing. That doesn't sit well with Rocky
Munford, a man in the audience who
tells a reporter, "David is for the white
man and I'm the white man."
Rep. Duke strides confidently into
the room to wild applause and hoarse
barks of "Duke, Duke, Duke." He sits
behind a table in the front and begins
talking. About how the welfare
underclass is destroying the country.
About how government policies are
penalizing the good working people in
the state. About how Sen. Bennett
Johnston has neglected those prob-
lems — while the media concentrates
on David Duke and his past.
But to this observer, the real story is
not what's being said but who's listen-
ing. These are not the stereotypical
lower class men and women who sup-
ported George Wallace two decades
ago.
The parking lot tonight is full of
Hondas and Chevrolet Caprices, not
pickup trucks. The people look middle
class. For every good ole boy supporter
like Rocky Munford, there are others
like Kay Jeffus, a well-spoken, attrac-
tive dental hygienist from New
Orleans who says she feels Mr. Duke
would be "an excellent senator repre-
senting the people who are working."
She says Mr. Duke is "against big
government because they're against
the people. They're for the rich and
he's for the poor."
"David's not anti-black," says a
young savings and loan official at the
rally. "His main policy is pro-black.
Look at the legislature. They won't
pass his bill against affirmative action.
That's discrimination. David's for
equal rights for everyone. That's what
the whole campaign is all about. No,
David's not anti-Jew at all. We'll have
Jews in the campaign before it's over."
And while Lance Hill of the Louisi-
ana Coalition later would say that Rep.
Duke's audience in Kenner is not rep-
resentative of his mostly hard-edged,
working class supporters, it's obvious
that the candidate is touching a chord.
What is his appeal?
For one thing, Louisianans have al-
ways marched to their own drummer.
This is the state where Huey Long, and
later his brother Earl, gained wide-
spread approval. In addition, the ongo-
ing depression in the gas, oil, and natu-
ral energy businesses has instilled a
sense of deep concern and anger among
many people.
Some feel threatened. They are anx-
ious of those below them on the socio-
economic ladder and opposed to big
government, which they blame for get-
ting them into this mess. Enter David
Duke, offering easy solutions for peo-
ple searching for them.
Whether Rep. Duke wins or not, his
opponents believe his influence is be-
ing felt in the South. One Duke disciple
ran for lieutenant governor in Arkan-
sas and another did surprisingly well
in a race for Congress from Tennessee,
though both lost.
"For many years, the thinking used
to be in dealing with the Klan and
Duke was don't disturb it and maybe
it'll go away," says Jane Buchsbaum
of The Louisiana Coalition Against
Racism and Nazism. "Now the think-
ing is he's like a fungus growing under
a rock, and he's growing, and we
should shine as bright a light on it as
possible." (11
— Michael Pousner
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
165