The first televised forum of the race for Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District seat covered a broad range of issues, but at nearly every turn, Thursday night's debate kept coming back to the campaign's central theme: the federal bribery investigation of incumbent William Jefferson.

Flanked by his four most potent challengers, Jefferson deflected the criticism, touting his connections to the Washington power structure and rattling off statistics, from the size of the national deficit to the appropriations he has funneled to southeast Louisiana during his 16 years in Congress, particularly since Hurricane Katrina.

Responding to the debate's first question, Jefferson calmly addressed what WDSU anchor Norman Robinson labeled "the elephant in the room": the discovery last summer by FBI agents of $90,000 in marked bills in a freezer in Jefferson's Capitol Hill home.

"I have not responded to any of the allegations . . . because I have to protect myself in this environment," Jefferson said. "There will be a time when I will make an explanation of this. It will be an honorable explanation. I have not been charged with a crime. I am not guilty of anything."

Acknowledging that the investigation is not complete, state Rep. Karen Carter, D-New Orleans, struck the familiar theme that Jefferson, who was removed from the powerful House Ways and Means Committee by his Democratic peers, has lost much of his stroke in the probe's wake.

"There is a cloud of suspicion that causes him to be distracted from the recovery," she said.

Trying to stand out

Throughout the rapid-fire, 90-minute program, each of the other three candidates -- former New Orleans City Councilman Troy Carter, New Orleans lawyer Joe Lavigne and state Sen. Derrick Shepherd -- took his own shots at Jefferson's legal problems as they vied to distinguish themselves in the field of 12 challengers on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Troy Carter, who made a failed bid for mayor of New Orleans in 2002, said he has a unique perspective after spending four years as a private citizen following two years as a state representative and eight years on the City Council. Carter also said he is the best option for voters who want to sidestep the city's entrenched black political organizations.

"We have a notion to reject the belief that this seat belongs to either BOLD or Progressive Democrats," he said. Karen Carter is a longtime BOLD member, and Jefferson founded the Progressive Democrats.

Shepherd, meanwhile, touted his experience as a state senator representing a sizable chuck of the 2nd District, which covers most of New Orleans, except for parts of Lakeview and Uptown, as well as south Kenner and most of Jefferson Parish's West Bank.

Throughout the forum, Shepherd peppered his answers with references to specific neighborhoods, and he vowed to open congressional offices on the West Bank, in Kenner and downtown. "We need hands-on leadership," he said. "That's what's missing now."

Lavigne, a political novice and the only Republican on stage Thursday, repeatedly derided his opponents as members of the old political guard who are parading the same failed policies with "a different face and a different name."

In one of the debate's lighter moments, he pointed to the accomplishments of a splashy newcomer to the city to portend his own abilities. "There's another rookie here: New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston, and he's doing a heck of a job," Lavigne said.

Focus on schools

Though the questioning ranged from immigration to the Iraq war to the Gulf Coast recovery, perhaps the most in-depth discussion focused on a thoroughly local issue: New Orleans' historically dismal public education system.

Asked about the recent state takeover of city schools, the candidates alternately took pot shots at Karen Carter, who authored the bill in the state Legislature that wrested authority over the school system from its locally elected board. But problems have not abated, Robinson noted, as students continue to attend schools that lack teachers and books.

"I think it's too simplistic a solution," Jefferson said. "There's no quick fix like a state takeover. The state was unprepared for this. They didn't have the bureaucracy to handle this. . . . It's a horrible result."

"It was a complete failure," Shepherd said. "I voted against the state takeover. It wasn't studied. It wasn't thought about. Everybody -- the teachers, the school bus drivers -- are due an apology."

After calmly taking the criticism, Karen Carter bit back. She admitted that especially since Katrina, the state takeover plan requires improvement. But she slapped at her opponents for sitting by idly during their years in public office and failing to offer alternatives.

"It's easy for people to talk about what was wrong and what's wrong now when they didn't offer a solution," she said. "Some of the folks out here have been in office for years, and we have had a problem with this system for years: bankruptcy, a federal investigation. Did they author legislation to do anything?"

Think fast

Twice during the debate, Robinson and co-anchor Kriss Fairbairn peppered the candidates with a "speed round" series of questions.

Asked if President Bush and his advisers had "intentionally misled the American people before our attack on Iraq," Troy Carter and Jefferson said yes; Karen Carter and Lavigne said no; and Shepherd said, "I hope not."

Asked to predict if Gov. Kathleen Blanco would be re-elected next year, Karen Carter and Jefferson said yes; Troy Carter and Lavigne said no; and Shepherd declined to speculate.

Lavigne was the lone dissenter when the candidates were asked if New Orleans will get Category 5 levee protection within five years, and he was the only one to support the use of school vouchers.

Asked if Mayor Ray Nagin is doing a good job of rebuilding the city, Karen Carter said "he's trying very hard"; Troy Carter declined to offer an opinion, saying only that "clearly, there have been some failures."

Jefferson, who is running with Nagin's support, said "Yes, it's a tough job." And though Lavigne agreed with Jefferson's assessment, he said Nagin is "not doing a very good" job.

Shepherd, meanwhile, said no.

The most bizarre moment in the debate came during a segment that allowed candidates to pose questions to one another. Trying to lob what she admittedly intended as a feel-good softball, Karen Carter asked Lavigne how his family is faring 14 months after Katrina.

A perplexed Lavigne replied that he was back in his home and that his mother had died while the family was evacuated.

"I don't know why you asked that question," he said, tears welling up in his eyes. "But I'm back in my home, I buried my mother."

After Robinson asked Carter why she chose that question, she blurted out that she didn't know about Lavigne's family tragedy.

"I was asking it out of sincerity," she said. Turning to Lavigne, she said, "Joe, there was absolutely no mal-intent there. We spend so much time with negative ads and fighting that we don't spend enough time on the issues and there needs to be a level of compassion and empathy offered in this campaign."

Now my opinion....

Carter is either acting or off her meds.