Rand Paul and his allies continue to believe that Louisiana is fertile territory for their brand of libertarian-ish politics. Last year, Rand was one of the first of his fellow U.S. Senators to endorse David Vitter for governor. During the part of the presidential campaign where Rand Paul was seen as a contender for the Republican nomination (remember that), his campaign and its allies were looking Louisiana as a possible post-Super Tuesday stronghold.

Now is Louisiana as libertarian-leaning as Rand Paul and his allies think? Probably not, but that’s not stopping them from trying to expand their influence in the state.

The latest example is this morning’s endorsement of Rob Maness for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by David Vitter. Here’s the press release in its entirety.

National conservative icon and United States Senator Rand Paul has endorsed retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Rob Maness for United States Senate.

Sen. Paul stated, “The United States Senate is in desperate need of principled constitutional conservatives committed to protecting individual liberty and that is exactly why I am thrilled to endorse Col. Rob Maness for Senate in Louisiana. He is a staunch believer in our 4th amendment rights and understands that to truly protect liberty, we must protect the ENTIRE Bill of Rights. Today I stand with Col. Maness and I hope you will stand with him too! I’m asking every lover of liberty in the Pelican State to vote for Col. Maness.

Maness said, “I’m blown away to earn the endorsement of Senator Rand Paul. There is no bigger champion of liberty in all of Washington than Senator Paul, and to receive his endorsement is truly an honor. From his courageous fight to defend our 4th amendment rights, to his steadfast stand against our 19 trillion dollar debt, he is exactly the type of Senator our founders envisioned. When I win this race, I’ll consistently be standing with him to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

The Maness campaign has been hinting at this endorsement for weeks. They have been aggressively courting libertarian-minded voters. This endorsement will help in that regard.

Will this endorsement make a difference in the race? Outside of getting Maness a free day of media coverage, probably not. Endorsements really don’t matter in general and it’s not like Rand Paul will be able to help with fundraising, which is the Maness campaign’s biggest need.