Wofford Adviser to Help Edwards

In a last-ditch effort to stop David Duke in the Louisiana governor’s race, Democrats have enlisted one of their top guns: consultant James Carville, the chief strategist in Democrat Harris Wofford’s stunning upset victory over former Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh in the Pennsylvania Senate race earlier this week.

Carville, a native Louisianian often compared with the late Republican strategist Lee Atwater for his slashing, bare-knuckled campaigns, was brought into Louisiana Thursday for meetings with Democratic nominee Edwin W. Edwards.

Carville was directed to the campaign after volunteering his services to the Democratic Governors’ Assn. in Washington. Also brought into Louisiana this week was Democratic pollster Mark Mellman.

This late infusion of some of the party’s top national talent reflects widespread Democratic anxiety in Louisiana and Washington about the quality of Edwards’ campaign and the clarity of its message. Until now, sources said, party leaders have been reluctant to intrude for fear of stirring a voter backlash against outsiders trying to dictate the election.