Among the decisions facing voters in 2026 in Louisiana, the choice of US senator looms large.  The dissatisfaction with Senator Cassidy seems not to have waned, and the Democrat Party in the State is still weak and rudderless.  Unless things change drastically, the only question that needs answering vis-à-vis the US Senate election is which Republican candidate other than Sen Cassidy will be elected.

To that end, we should take a quick look at how the Republican candidates are presenting themselves at this point.

State Senator Blake Miguez has been airing a commercial on the radio non-stop that strikes the listener as a collection of focus-group-tested words and phrases mashed together without any clear or coherent message – designed simply for emotional appeal, in other words.  That is unfortunate, as his voting record in the Louisiana Legislature, his previous interviews and essays, etc., show that he has more depth and intellectual rigor than what his radio ad is presenting to voters.  In fairness, the full video those phrases were pulled from is much better, showing a man who knows and appreciates his roots.

State Treasurer John Fleming has also been airing quite a few ads on the radio.  They sound frankly like something borrowed from the 1970s or 80s, i.e., very corny and unserious, with phrases like ‘He was MAGA before MAGA was cool.’  Someone should bury that ad, and quickly.  He has also shown more gumption than this in his political past, so it is a shame that he is beclowning himself like he is.  His best ad so far has been his anti-carbon capture and storage ad; he and his team should try replicating the tenor of that ad in their future attempts.

St Tammany Councilwoman Kathy Seiden seems to have forgotten that she is actually a citizen of Louisiana, speaking constantly in her videos about ‘the nation’ and ‘Washington’.  Her main focus seems to be fixing DC; protecting and advancing the interests of Louisiana are largely absent so far in her commentary.

The way Eric Skrmetta presents himself in his announcement video, he comes across as something of a relic of the Republican past.  He associates himself with Ronald Reagan, goes through the usual list of establishment priorities – pro-life, pro-gun, strict constitutionalist – and waves the US flag.  He’s done some good things on the Public Service Commission, but one wonders if his Boomer-era style of politics would be better suited for the quieter, less public nature of the PSC than the intensely public and fractious world of the US Senate.

State Representative Julie Emerson is the policy wonk of this bunch of candidates.  She has said that her approach to the job will be data-driven, and much of her web site is devoted to policies she has either implemented or would like to see implemented in the future.  That is all well and good, but she needs to realize that innovative policy ideas will likely go nowhere fast in DC.  There is a reason that the federal government is approaching $40 trillion in debt – the Powers That Be in both parties are only interested in keeping the status-quo rolling along.  Rep Emerson needs to seriously consider whether she wants to fight a quixotic battle for reform in DC or stay in the Louisiana Legislature where her ideas and efforts are likely to bear much more significant fruit.

US Representative Julia Letlow has been mentioned as a possible candidate.  Her track record so far hasn’t been very inspirational.  She seems like a beauty queen version of the Republican Establishment sock-puppet.  She rarely shows originality in her proposals and interviews, more often than not simply parroting the stale talking points one finds on programs like Sean Hannity’s.  We could be wrong, but it is likely that Louisianans would be just as disappointed with her as with fellow Swamp critter Sen Cassidy.

There are not a lot of positives to detail so far with the US Senate candidates.  Part of that is because the election is still months into the future, and no one is campaigning too hard as of yet, saving their main proposals, etc., for a later date.

The other part of that appears to be a misunderstanding of what a US senator actually is.  Apart from the governor, the US senators from each State are the most complete embodiment of the people and culture and history and interests of their State as a unique, unrepeatable country/ethnos.  US senators are ambassadors of sovereign nations.  Their purpose is primarily to advance the well-being of their own State’s people in DC; then to cooperate with the other ambassadors-senators in laws, actions, etc., that promote the common good of all the States.  They are not going to Washington bereft of any prior cultural and geographical identity as some kind of super-representative of a ‘nation called America.’

Rep Emerson and Sen Miguez are the only ones who seem to understand those concepts on some level (if they are being honest in their presentations of themselves).  Whether they really do or not, and whether the other candidates have any inkling about them or not, time will tell.

On the whole, we are not optimistic about the project to ‘fix Washington’.  We are of the belief that nothing is beyond God’s ability to revive and restore, but we also wonder if the federal government and the union of States, in their current form, need to undergo some significant changes to adapt to the new era we are in – an era of deep, irreconcilable cultural division at home and tectonic changes in geopolitics abroad.  The post-WWII, unipolar order no longer exists, but most officials in DC act like it does.  Zombie-Reaganism tightly clutches the minds of conservative politicians and stifles any original ideas.

As Moon Griffon, Scott McKay, and others have said, any of the declared Republican candidates would be an improvement over Sen Cassidy.  We would wish them well in the US Senate.  But, once again, we cannot help wondering if these candidates and other leaders in Louisiana would not do better to convene a series of meetings whose goal would be to secure a stable and orderly future for Louisiana in case of some catastrophe emanating from DC, due to a debt crisis, inflation, war, etc.

Once we have such a plan in place, then perhaps we could get back to going through the motions of the regularly scheduled, illusory and deceptive political games controlled by the giant corporate conglomerates.  Or perhaps Louisianans would have sense enough to walk away from them completely.  How awake are we to reality?  Again, only time will tell.