Word: duking
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...Though Duke has formally repudiated his Klan past, an undercurrent of racism lurks beneath his reasoned arguments. When he talks about welfare, crime, drugs or affirmative action, he is talking about race. "I believe in equal rights for all, special privilege for none," says Duke. That seemingly laudable concept is a thinly veiled appeal to frustrated whites who feel they are victims of reverse discrimination. It is a clever ploy, and one whose attraction stretches far beyond the racist vote. A master at driving wedges through the electorate by exploiting race-linked issues, Duke is moving these once taboo topics...
...Duke's approach has an enormous appeal -- despite an unsavory past that he now writes off as a "wrong attitude." A swastika-brandishing neo-Nazi in college, he joined the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in high school and worked himself up to the exalted rank of grand wizard before leaving the organization in 1979. Soon after, he founded a white supremacist group called the National Association for the Advancement of White People. The divorced father of two teenage daughters, Duke held no regular job before his election to the state legislature. He has supported himself as a seller...
...Duke, whose intense blue eyes betray an inner fanaticism, tries to shrug off his past. "I'm not a racist," he says during an interview in the two-story Metairie home that doubles as his headquarters. "I was too intolerant in an earlier time in my life. But I certainly am not now." Though his disavowal drips with disingenuousness, it is winning converts -- particularly among educated middle-class voters who sense something is terribly wrong with the state. Duke, who fancies comparisons with Boris Yeltsin, appeals to the same kind of throw-the-bums-out impulse that the Russian leader...
...Duke's disenchanted voters not only want to sweep out the old professional governing class; they want someone to crack down on crime, drugs and welfare cheats. In a time of high unemployment, they want assurances that their job security will not be further eroded by affirmative action and set-aside programs. Duke bristles at the suggestion that he exploits racial fear. But until he offers credible evidence of change, other than his professed embrace of the Christian faith, that protest rings hollow...
Edwards, like Duke, has an image problem rooted in his own troubled past. Though his womanizing, high-rolling ways may endear him to many voters in a state that has always loved a good rascal, even Louisianians have a limited tolerance for corruption these days. During his previous term as Governor, Edwards was indicted twice on charges that he had conspired to rig state hospital approvals while out of office. Though he was acquitted, tales of extravagant gambling trips and debts paid off with cash-filled suitcases have ^ continued to dog him. But they also spark his campaign for redemption...