Even in a state where politics is a contact sport, when it goes up against football, a blood sport, there is no contest. Just as, sadly, there was no contest when LSU failed to show up for its showdown with Alabama for the national championship game Monday night. Until kickoff, however, the build-up to the game in New Orleans dwarfed anything happening with politics and government in Baton Rouge. Were the date for the governor’s inauguration and the swearing-in of the Legislature not set in the state constitution, they would have been moved to not interfere with the state’s real focus of attention. As it was, the inaugural ball was sensibly rescheduled from Monday night to Sunday night, which, in turn, pushed the Republican legislative party up to Saturday night. That conflicted with the Saints-Lions playoff game, making the big-screen TV a center of attention for lawmakers. Just as Democrats stayed out of the statewide elections, their legislators wisely chose not to compete with football and scheduled no inaugural events. There was not much news to emanate from the inauguration ceremony, especially for a re-elected governor, especially one who had signaled beforehand that he would not have much specific to say about his plans for a second term, beyond making K-12 his top priority. Even an election is not much competition for a big gridiron match. Read the full column here.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
