New Orleans, LA, September 2, 2010 - Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao shies away from partisan debate

By Stephanie Grace, The Times-Picayune

Most Republicans are probably thrilled that their party is in striking distance of regaining its majority in the U.S. House this fall.

Yet for Anh "Joseph" Cao, the unlikely first-term GOP congressman from the overwhelmingly Democratic 2nd District, the battle for control could make his already uphill re-election run still more steep. If Congress is at stake, the theory goes, then both sides will wage an all-out fight for every seat, and the election could turn as much on support for the parties as for the candidates.

Cedric Richmond, the state lawmaker who recently won the right to face Cao in November, doesn't have to worry about this development. Richmond's relationship with his party is uncomplicated; he unabashedly embraces the Democrats' agenda, and the Democratic establishment here and in Washington embraced him even before Saturday's primary.

If Richmond is eager for voters to focus on his party affiliation, Cao needs them to look past it.

Whether it's due to expediency, philosophy or some combination of the two, Cao holds his own side at arm's length.

In an interview during the August recess, Cao decried the pervasive partisanship in Congress, where, he says, "we're there simply to retain the majority or regain the majority" rather than solve problems. Asked which side's at fault, he pointed fingers in both directions.

Unlike just about all his GOP colleagues, Cao has backed President Barack Obama on some (but not all) of his major initiatives. Even more unusual these days, the two have struck up a warm relationship.

On a personal level, Cao said, "I love the president, and I believe he truly likes me."
Cao said he's visited the White House about 10 times -- not counting the Superbowl party that he missed because of snow -- and earned an audience in the Oval Office during the health care debate's end stages. He said he appreciated that Obama never asked him to betray his conscience on abortion, just to "revisit the language" and see whether he could support the measure.

He's got a frostier relationship with House Democratic leaders who, unlike their counterparts in the Senate, do not need to woo Republican votes -- and, Cao says, don't bother to try. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "has not approached me once," he said.

What about his own caucus, famous for presenting an otherwise united front against Obama?

"It's like any," Cao said. "You have people you like, you have people you don't like."

Not surprisingly, Cao chooses to focus on non-partisan matters, like pushing recovery and oil-spill legislation and seeking money for things like hospitals and schools.

"My job is to represent the district, not the party," he said, a line that voters are likely to hear often this fall.

The lone exception, he said, is when a proposal conflicts with his "core moral values." That's the category where he places his ultimate vote against health care reform, despite pressure from home and his own support for many of the provisions that his party opposed.

It all came down to a single issue, a personal one that left him, in his words, "a tormented soul." Cao, a former seminarian, insists that the final bill doesn't stop federal money from going toward abortion, a position pushed by the Catholic bishops but disputed by many Democrats, the Catholic Health Association and leaders of many orders of Catholics nuns.

On issues that don't meet that "core moral value" threshold, he said he'll always defer to his constituents. One example: Cao said that, if it were just him, he would have supported cap and trade legislation to reduce carbon emissions. Unlike some of his GOP colleagues in Louisiana, Cao says he agrees with the vast majority of scientists -- and Democrats -- that man-made climate change is real and demands an urgent response. But he said he opposed the bill because he believed his district couldn't afford it.

Cao's ties to his party are so tenuous that, to hear him tell it, his membership is more a product of chance than conviction.

Asked why he's a Republican, the former political independent's immediate answer was that "they were the first ones that asked me to join." (Cao was recruited to run by onetime GOP New Orleans City Councilman Bryan Wagner).

Any other reason? "They have a strong pro-life stand," he added.

That's all?

"I'm very frugal," Cao finally said, before making it clear that his desire to "spend within our means" shouldn't be interpreted as government-bashing.

"I believe there is a role for government," he said. The question is, "How are we going to find a balance?"

He then finished the thought by -- intentionally or not -- mimicking a common Democratic characterization of his own party's stance.

"No, no, no on everything," Cao said, "I don't think is being fiscally responsible."