February
2008
Louisiana Became a Blue State Tonight
It’s the deep south and no one could have thought that Louisiana would even consider voting for a democrat since the south went red after the civil rights act was pushed through by Democratic Lyndon B. Johnson.
But tonight that all changed.
Numbers don’t lie. With 99% of the primary vote in, here’s the totals.
Obama 217,291
Clinton 134,765
Huckabee 67,685
McCain 65,066
Paul 8,237
Yes, Senator Barack Obama went away with the prize. In fact he swept all four states there was a primary/caucus on Saturday. But what the real news is that the top two candidates on the Republican side combined weren’t even able to muster the total of the second place candidate on the democratic side.
Incumbent Presidents have had a huge impact on the races of their successors. After signing the Civil Rights act, President Johnson said “We have just lost the South for a generation”. He was right and the south helped catapult Republican Richard Nixon into the Presidency. Fast forward to today and President George W. Bush who promised so much to Louisiana after being devastated by the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, is widely criticized for sitting on his hands and doing nothing as Louisiana residents have suffered.
With the electoral crucifixion that republicans took in Louisiana, the generation that Johnson offered his seer advice on has come and gone. This new generation has seen the results of Republican power. They have seen Republicans serve themselves heaping servings at the table while working southerners were thrown table scraps. While they have heard the Republican rhetoric of “fiscal conservatism”, they have seen the reality that there is no place setting for them in their time of need.
Tonight Louisianans said “enough is enough”. Tired of Republican rhetoric which resulted in only broken promises, Louisiana screamed a big loud Cajun YES to the Democratic candidates. Republicans accused Obama of being a “hopemonger” at a time when Louisianans were looking for hope. They rewarded him with 57% of the vote.
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Wisconsinites will vote on Tuesday, February 19th.
Jim McGuigan
Jim McGuigan
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Snce most view the republican race as over, your analysis seems a little misguided.
Are you suggesting that the majority of Republicans who were voting in LA on Saturday believed that the race for the Republican nomination was over so they just stayed home? That may be true in another week but it wasn’t true as of last night. If Huckabee would have gotten 50% in that state he would have carried it. Aren’t all of the people who identify themselves as conservatives voting for Huckabee.
Uh Jim, just look at the delegate count…McCain is crushing Huckabee. Huck’s last gasps are Quixotic at best. But by all means, PLEASE continue to think that Dems have this Presidential race all wrapped up and that it’s a foregone conclusion.
Louisiana, where I used to live, has been trending toward blue the past few years. The poor federal response to Hurricane Katrina was the final straw for the people.
Had Kerry and Edwards put more resources there in 2004 they might won it then, but they decided to make their stand here in the Midwest. The black vote there is tremendously strong, so it was just a matter of time. La. is a proud, proud state whose people absolutely love living there, love being from there.
Katrina, and everything that happened afterward … it broke the hearts of so many.