Sen. David Vitter insists he has not given a “millisecond of thought” to running for governor in 2015. Some may find that hard to believe, but lately he has a lot on his mind, and on his plate. Now the ranking Republican on the Environmental and Public Works Committee, he also advances in leadership as a newly named deputy whip. He is working on legislation to reorganize the Army Corps of Engineers while also pushing for tougher oversight of Wall Street megabanks. Speaking out more bluntly than ever, he recently called the Senate majority leader an “idiot” for his comment on Katrina victims, and GOP colleague Sen. Marco Rubio “naďve” about immigration policy. Eclipsing all that, at least last weekend, was his first Washington Mardi Gras as captain of the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians. As with everything else, Vitter threw himself into it, even wearing tights to the ball. Still, not a millisecond? His explanation to Politico: “I think it’s insanely early to focus on that. I’m not thinking about it. Will I be thinking about it in a year? I honestly don’t know because I haven’t even started thinking about whether I want to think about it.” For ordinary folk, from recent college graduates to workers nearing retirement, it is hardly insane—actually, it is quite prudent and practical—to think about what they want to be doing five years from now. For a politician to admit to such thoughts, however, is to risk being seen as a craven, plotting megalomaniac, interested only in climbing to higher office. Read the full column here.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
