Strange Days in Louisiana Politics

Current Congressman Jim McCrary of Louisiana's 4^th Congressional district is not going to seek re-election in 2008. His seat in Congress which will be filled by one of several candidates opens up a race in Louisiana with bearing upon the future of the state. On February 9, Louisiana went to the Presidential voting booths to determine where the state will be, potentially, come November. It's an awesome experience to view how the voting of the people today, reflects or will reflect where their party hearts are, when the time comes to elect someone to replace Congressman McCrary. The tying of the two political opines together is strained, but it may in fact be present, as we look at a realistic appraisal of the bindings of party upon the vote.

In Louisiana after the voting closed there were two front runners in each party particular, the Republican side of the house had Mike Huckabee slightly ahead of John McCain, but the percentage was less than a clear win. For Barrack Obama on the Democratic side, it was a huge percentage difference between him and the next candidate Hillary Clinton.

What these numbers indicate in Louisiana is speculated as being along racial lines byMike Mokrzycki and Janet McConnaughey writing for theAssociated Press. "Blacks were half the Democratic primary electorate and Obama racked up a typically vast margin among them as he beat Clinton in Louisiana. Obama won more than eight in 10 blacks, male and female, according to the exit polls for The Associated Press and television networks." [CLICK] This qualifies in my realm of thought as strange- is this why we choose someone to lead the most powerful nation on earth- skin color? Are not the very people voting along these racial lines the same people who loudly proclaim Dr. Martin Luther King's sentiment that one day a person would be judged by their character content rather then the color of their skin?

These are strange days in that this election reflects a desire not for facts and information and deeper analysis among the voters, but apparently the voters aren't considering matters at any stronger depth than party, race and what might conceivably be in it for them. No these aren't the statements that we like to hear, isn't that strange, that we who vote to elect those who should represent us, vote for those who aren't in touch at all with the reality that we live in, in this state, Louisiana, with such political figures from the past as Huey Long, a peoples politician if ever there was one (!)- isn't it indeed strange how now these voters are following nationalistic trends?

Are we seeing the advent of a new type of voter behavior, or simply a rebut by vote to the old patterns, without the old style candidates to back them up? Stranger still is that soon Louisiana will be replacing one of the most powerful favorite sons, Congressman Jim McCrary's seat, will that vote pattern follow this vote pattern, or should we look to something else? Isn't that the very definition of strange- that which can't be predicted?