Are you ready?  Yes, I’m talking about football with our LSU Tigers about to play for the National Championship in New Orleans and our currently dominant New Orleans Saints going into the playoffs on a really impressive hot streak.

And, of course, I’m also asking if you’re ready for what will undoubtedly be a frantic and bruising presidential election year. I want to assure you that I won’t lose focus on my mission as your senator:  to fight to bring common sense reforms and mainstream Louisiana practicality to Washington.

Washington has been off track for quite a while, and its policies have created a cumbersome, often-failing government that drags down our small businesses and creates red tape and roadblocks for so many of us in our daily lives.

Frankly, it shouldn’t.  I intend to fight to unwind the bureaucracy, cut through the red tape, and put Washington’s bloated federal government on a Biggest Loser-style diet.

So while the news media and the chattering class focuses on building up and destroying the presidential candidates this year, I encourage you to not get distracted from the main point: the country as a whole rejects more government in our daily lives, and we’re making sure Washington gets that message.

Join me in reminding our friends and neighbors to focus on supporting candidates and initiatives that tackle this big objective, and leave the ticky-tack scrutiny and distractions to the talking heads.