We knew that we’d see some strange reactions by the Left in Louisiana after their candidates and party were rendered utterly irrelevant in the twin blowouts of the October primaries and November runoffs in the state’s 2023 election cycle.
One of the likely manifestations of their grief would be the refusal to accept responsibility for failed policies and poor leadership which led to the blowout in the first place. After all, a Louisiana governor is among the most powerful of state elected officials in America, and John Bel Edwards was in office for eight years, a term which is sputtering to an end. Were Edwards successful, his party should have been rewarded with renewed life in this election cycle.
Instead it was turned out as no party has been since the Republicans became relevant in the state in the 1980’s. Outside of majority-minority districts there are only a mere handful of Democrats left in state elected offices, and they’re barely able to merit a third of the vote in Louisiana anymore in a statewide race.
Intelligent people would see those results and recognize that if they’re ever going to be relevant again it’s going to require a major course change. The problem seems to be there aren’t many intelligent people in the Democrat Party in Louisiana anymore.
For example, when incoming Secretary of State Nancy Landry, who picked up almost 2/3rds of the vote in November to win her job, offered what should have been a relatively inoffensive tweet about signing an office copy of the Bible along with her predecessor Kyle Ardoin, you had this…
This week, Secretary Ardoin and myself signed the inside cover of a Bible which has been displayed in his office since he became Secretary of State. The same Bible will be displayed in my office when I take office on January 8.
As I signed, I was reminded of Solomon's prayer in… pic.twitter.com/dllzI63ZiR
— Nancy Landry (@NancyLandry) December 20, 2023
There’s a lot more; you get the idea.
Then you had Gov.-elect Jeff Landry making the announcement that solving crime in the state’s big cities is a priority, one he plans to address with a special session in February…
This is the sad reality of the city of New Orleans right now. No one feels safe. I look forward to holding our special session on crime and bringing back law and order to our streets. pic.twitter.com/e7LwKw9FdD
— Jeff Landry (@JeffLandry) December 20, 2023
And what did he get for his trouble? Well…
Crime is down by a lot this year. I’m suspect of these details about their cancellation.
— Brian DeLancey ⚜️ (@briandelancey) December 20, 2023
— JustaNolagirl (@JNolagirl) December 21, 2023
— Matthew Wollenweber (@MWollenweber) December 20, 2023
The top law guy since 2016, and only after this election you’re speaking out about crime.
— Susan Bensinger (@Susanbenrue) December 20, 2023
@JeffLandry we are fine over here. We do not need you and none of your fake bureaucracy here in our city. We can hold our own and carry the state. I’m not from Louisiana I’m from New Orleans.
— JermaineRenard (@Jermaine_Renard) December 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/dadioonthepatio/status/1737303497916203245
We can get bogged down in an argument over whether crime concerns played a role in the NYE show being canceled or if it was about sufficient bribes being paid to the producers – which is what New Orleans’ Powers That Be contend.
But that last tweet is the real money shot here. Now the position of these people who have taken it on themselves to play the role of nasty dead-enders, taking the vilest potshots they can at the conservatives now in office because they can’t command any votes for their own positions, is that crime isn’t a problem in New Orleans.
According to the New Orleans Crime Dashboard, as of yesterday there were an amazing 6,708 car thefts in Orleans Parish in 2023. Think that’s a nonexistent or overrated problem?
And if so, then how come Landry made crime prevention the centerpiece to his campaign and he won a massive victory in the primary? Obviously he fooled a whole lot of people if this is a phantom issue.
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The funniest contention is that Landry is at fault for the crime wave in New Orleans and elsewhere because he was the Attorney General the last eight years. The AG’s office doesn’t have the authority – yet – to intervene in the prosecution of criminal cases in Louisiana without recusal by the local District Attorney. But Landry’s promises as governor are empty because crime exploded on his watch.
But wait – crime is down, so they say, and it isn’t a problem anymore. So why doesn’t Landry get credit?
Nobody is going to listen to these people. And the attempts to rehabilitate Edwards or tout his “legacy” will fall flat.
They’ll fall flat because nobody cares what the Left thinks in Louisiana. Their ideas clearly don’t work, and they’re the least charismatic people in the state in how they express them.
Maybe some time in the wilderness will reform that crowd and they’ll earn their way back into the mainstream. What’s probably more likely, though, is that a lot of them will simply move away.
And that’s fine, too, because Landry’s policies, and those favored by a supermajority of the new legislature, will be very pro-growth and in-migration is about to become a thing. We’ll happily replace the sorehead Left with transplants from the very blue states they demand we emulate, and benefit greatly in the bargain.
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