David Vitter's 'Stormy' opposition?

by Mark Silva

Races to watch, or hope for:

(This politically sordid day is probably irretrievable at this point, anyway, so we'll set the marker with some handicaps on this possible race:)

In Louisiana, Republican Sen. David Vitter could be somewhat vulnerable (or perhaps up in Louisiana polling) after his name turned up in a Washington prostitution ring two years ago. He can only hope for this opponent next year.

The porn-"star" also known as "Stormy Daniels" has launched a "listening tour'' and opened an "exploratory committee'' in consideration of a possible run for Vitter's Senate seat.

A few complications:

She lives in Tampa, Fla., where she was arrested Saturday on a domestic violence battery charge for allegedly hitting her husband in a dispute over unpaid laundry bills. (five points.)

Her political adviser in Louisiana, Brian Welsh, maintains that someone blew up his 1996 Audi outside his apartment in an upscale downtown area of New Orleans on Jan. 23. He has a fuzzy YouTube of someone getting into the car.

""It's something out of The Sopranos," Edward E. Chervenak, a professor of politics at the University of New Orleans, told the AP. "Very weird."

Vitter's "family values'' campaign has faced some challenges since the exposure of a D.C. madam's little black book a while back. In May, Daniels announced that she is interested in running. The actress, a Louisiana native whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, allows that she would have to reestablish residency first.

Daniels was arrested Saturday at 3:18 p.m. after her husband, Michael Mosny, reported that Daniels hit him several times, according to a Tampa Police Department report. Police said neither Mosny nor Daniels were injured. Mosny told police Daniels was upset "about the way the clothes had been done" and then "got more upset about some bills that had not been paid," according to the report.

Daniels allegedly "threw a potted plant at the kitchen sink," hit Mosny on the head several times and "threw their wedding album onto the floor and knocked candles off coffee table, breaking them'' - though there is no mention in the report of anyone singing a country and western song at the time.

Welsh, a Democratic adviser and manager of the Stormy Daniels Senate Exploratory Committee LLC., has reported that his Audi convertible exploded into flames around 11:15 p.m. July 23, a Thursday, while he and his wife were walking their dog nearby. He grew suspicious after reviewing surveillance tapes of the street where his car was parked.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call at 11:23 p.m. and put the fire out by 12:06 a.m., according to the New Orleans Fire Department. Yet Welsh's car was parked recently in the same spot where it caught fire, near the convention center.

(The AP is to blame for this story.)