MAJOR CANDIDATES TRY TO STAND OUT

Many Agree On Jobs, Marriage, Drugs

NEW ORLEANS -- Each of seven major candidates in the race for governor said
Sunday night that Louisiana needs more jobs and an improved education
system, that drugs should stay illegal and the state won't recognize
same-sex marriages under their administrations. Each also tried to separate
themselves from the other candidates in the 90-minute forum televised live
in the New Orleans area on WDSU TV, Channel 6.

Some candidates are pulling the state apart, said former Senate President
Randy Ewing, a Democrat, running as a moderate.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. Yet, there are those who try
and pull us to the right and to the left to pit us against each other: city
and country, black and white, Republican and Democrat, business and labor
- -- I want to pull us together," he said.

"Give me a chance to lead, to pull us together."

Former state and federal health-care official Bobby Jindal touted his
newcomer status and endorsement on Sunday by the state's largest newspaper,
the Times-Picayune.

"I'm the only one up here who has never run for office before," he said.
Louisiana needs more jobs to keep its residents here and not looking for
work out of state, he said.

After the forum, Ewing said the Times-Picayune endorsement surprised him
but that he has the endorsement "that counts," New Orleans' reform-minded
mayor Ray Nagin.

Three newspapers -- The Shreveport Times, The Monroe News-Star and New
Orleans' Gambit Weekly -- also endorsed Ewing, D-Quitman.

Jay Blossman, a conservative Republican in his second term on the state
Public Service Commission, tried to separate himself from the rest of the
field.

People want change, Blossman said, and the other candidates in the studio
don't represent change. They've been in government, he said, and have done
little to change the problems.

Those candidates in the Legislature did not, as he proposes to do,
eliminate the urban and rural "slush" funds that pay for legislators' pet
projects, Blossman said.

Hunt Downer Jr., a seven-term legislator running as a Republican, said he's
not afraid to "step on toes" or shake things up. "I'm not afraid to say
things that others won't talk about," he said.

"You may not like me all the time as governor," Downer, R-Houma, said, "but
in the long run, you will."

Former U.S. Rep. Buddy Leach, a Democrat, said of all the candidates, only
he "has the guts to say" the state needs more revenue to pay for all their
promises.

Leach, a businessman, proposes a $1.5 billion annual tax on foreign oil
processed in Louisiana to fund higher teacher pay and other education programs.

Paying state teachers the national average and putting certified teachers
in every classroom is the key to solving the state's education problems,
Leach said.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, both
Democrats, touted their experience.

"I worked hard to strengthen this economy," Blanco said.

In a forum marked by several questions on jobs and economy development,
Blanco said she, as the state's top tourism official, brought a new airline
to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and tripled the
cruise-ship business in the city.

Blanco said the state needs more economic development -- especially in
foreign trade -- and she has the experience to do it.

Ieyoub said he brought $4.6 billion to the state in a tobacco lawsuit
settlement "because people tried to addict our children to nicotine."

Ieyoub went on to say he has protected the elderly and school children as
attorney general. "I have a lot of guts and leadership ability," he said.

Each candidate unequivocally said they would not legalize drugs.

That's just giving up, many said.

All opposed a state law permitting same-sex marriages.

"No way," said Blossman.

That would undermine traditional marriage, both Ieyoub and Jindal said.

"I'd veto it," said Downer.

Leach said he would oppose it because state law already allows property
rights for people of the same sex in a relationship.

The candidates have three more public forums where they will field
questions and debate one another: Wednesday's forum, sponsored by the
Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, at the Pennington
Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge; a debate Thursday, sponsored by
the Council for a Better Louisiana and Louisiana Public Broadcasting at
Tulane University; and a Sept. 29 forum that radio and television stations
will broadcast, sponsored by League of Women Voters.

Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.