LA-Sen: TSA Not Interested In Pampering Vitter: Senator Ducks Primary Challenge

Diaper Dave Vitter’s scramble to rehabilitate his public image hit a well-publicized snag last week when he attempted to crash the gate…of an aircraft set to take off without the Senator aboard.

The Louisiana senator arrived at his gate to find it already closed and then “opened the door, setting off a security alarm and prompting an airline worker to warn him that entering the gate was forbidden.” Vitter “gave the airline worker an earful, employing the timeworn ‘do-you-know-who-I-am’ tirade that apparently grew quite heated.”

His air rage has now provoked the ire of the TSA, which is apparently not interested in pampering Diaper Dave in the manner to which he is accustomed:

The Transportation Security Administration announced yesterday that it is reviewing a report that an angry Vitter set off an alarm at Dulles International Airport last week when he opened a security door to a jet bridge in his haste to make a United Airlines flight.

The TSA wouldn’t comment beyond its statement that it is “reviewing the alleged incident.” But airport security regulations stipulate that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for an unauthorized person to enter a restricted area.

Maybe they’re overreacting, though. I mean, it’s not like we’ve had any compelling reasons in the last decade or so to think that airport security might be a serious concern worthy of major attention.

Seriously, sorry for bothering you, Senator. How dare anybody think that the safety of our aircraft may perhaps transcend the convenience of your travel schedule? How dare anybody even raise the spectre of you perhaps having to take a later flight like Normal People do?

So how did the Diaper Man manage to cop out this time?

Vitter, in a statement, admitted that he “accidentally went through a wrong door at the gate.”

Ah, yes. The, er, “wrong door”, to the right plane. The “wrong door” to the plane for which he had a ticket, the plane which was set to take off without him, the very plane he was trying to catch. It was an honest mistake! They have like 200 doors in this airport!

So far, it’s a “he said, she said” type of situation. That could change, however, if security cameras recorded the incident. Airport police officials declined to say whether such footage exists.

There’s a YouTube sensation waiting to happen.

Apparently, this is not the first time that Vitter’s temper has gone nuclear on some poor unsuspecting and undeserving target:

I was managing editor of Gambit Weekly in New Orleans by then and Vitter was making his first run for State Rep. We had a feature called “Scuttlebutt” which involved short, hard-news (i.e. not just gossip) snippets of behind-the-scenes political goings on. I wrote a series of scuttlebutts one week about Vitter’s race. Any reasonable person would come away from those scuttlebutts thinking Vitter was the candidate most on the ball, far and away. I reported things along the lines of Candidate A having taken the first step by hiring a campaign manager, and candidate B having just leased a campaign office, etc. Vitter, meanwhile, according to my report (this is from memory), had already done something like “blanketed every house in the district with not one but two pieces of glossy campaign literature touting his credentials and platform.”

Again, it was just straight reporting, but reporting that by any objective criteria made Vitter look good.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I got a phone call from David where he literally was yelling and occasionally cursing into my ear — so loudly that I literally had to hold the phone away from my head, about six inches from my ear — like he was absolutely unhinged. This went on for something like seven or eight minutes straight. Why was he so upset? Because, he said, my use of the word “glossy” — hey, uh, David, that is a type of paper, dude, as in do you want your photos glossy or matte? — was a deliberate attempt to insinuate that he was “slick and insubstantial.” How DARE I? I was a dirty, rotten, bleeping yellow journalist. Or so he yelled, or words to that effect.

As I said, he sounded unhinged. It was truly, 100 percent bizarre. And this was from a guy for whom, if I had lived in his legislative district, I probably would have voted (before this incident) because his credentials seemed stronger than the other good and worthy candidates in the race. But he was convinced that I was out to get him. Weird. Very very very very weird, and thoroughly unpleasant.

Well, look on the bright side, Dave: after various escapades involving prostitutes, diapers, and now violating airport security laws, your image is anything but glossy.

There’s one great piece of news for the incumbent Senator: former state Rep. Tony Perkins, now head of the Family Research Council, has decided to pass on a primary challenge to Vitter.

This hasn’t been a very good week for Louisiana Sen. David Vitter but it’s ending on a positive note: Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has decided not to challenge him in next year’s Republican primary.

“I am grateful for those who’ve encouraged me to consider returning to elected office, but this is not the right time,” wrote Perkins in a letter to state party chairman Roger Villere. “Along those lines, I would like members of the State Central Committee to know that I support Senator David Vitter’s bid for reelection in 2010.”

Perkins’ decision removes a major potential hurdle to Vitter’s chances at reelection in 2010. Not only had Perkins run for the Senate once before (he took 10 percent in a 2002 open primary) but his position as a leading social conservative also had the potential to shine a bright light on Vitter’s involvement in the “D.C. Madam” prostitution scandal in 2007.

It is looking increasingly likely that Vitter may not face a tough primary challenge after all; former Rep. John Cooksey has already bowed out. This leaves him open to focus on the Democrats in the race (the Post mentions Shaw Group CEO Jim Bernhard, former U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux, and State Sen. Rob Marioneaux).

Should be interesting watching, if nothing else. Laissez les bons temps rouler!