Election Night 2008 was astounding when you consider the ultimate results nationally and locally.

Leading the pack of course was the national victory by Barack Obama and the “pick up”  by the Democrats in Congress. 

In Louisiana, a state known for being unique, things were slightly different.

McCain received 1,147,603 votes and Obama collected 780,981 which amount to a 58.61% to 39.89% differential.  Yet, Mary Landrieu received 986,411 to John Kennedy’s 866,624 which gave her a 52.08% to 45.75% edge (incidentally, this was almost exactly the margin of victory I predicted weeks ago).

In effect, Landrieu performed better than Obama but not as well as McCain.

The real jackpot for Mary Landrieu was in New Orleans and East Baton Rouge Parish.

She garnered over 230,000 votes within those two parishes.  She also did well in Jefferson and Caddo Parishes.  Those parishes translated into approximately one-third of her vote.

Another way to look at the results is that John Kennedy did better than Barack Obama in Louisiana.  He received over 100,000 votes more than the President-elect.

So, where does all of this leave Louisiana as the state tries to rebound from Katrina, Rita,

Gustav and Ike and as it focuses upon major issues such as coastal erosion, hurricane protection and a variety of other needs.

I believe Louisiana will receive much more attention from the Democrat-controlled Congress and from Obama than it did so from the Bush administration and the Republican controlled Congress which lost power two years ago.

Senator Landrieu’s margin of victory has increased by a substantial amount since she edged out Woody Jenkins twelve years ago.  Over the next two years at the minimum, she will be a major player in the US Senate and with her seat on Appropriations, she will be able to help Louisiana with our recovery.

Louisiana will likely remain a conservative state as evidenced by Landrieu’s statewide victory but Republican Bill Cassidy’s Congressional win in the Baton Rouge area over relatively newly elected, Democrat, Don Cazeyoux.

For now, it is obvious that Louisiana needs future Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress more than Washington needs Louisiana.

We will see how the demography changes over the next few years and if Louisiana begins to accept a Democrat Washington.  We will also see if the election will change the course for Bobby Jindal as his fate in helping Louisiana is now tethered to a party with which he shares major differences.

If Obama runs a centrist-style government, Mary Landrieu will continue to be able to be congruent with the Louisiana voters and possibly with Congress.  Landrieu had no “cakewalk” last night and Louisiana is not likely to suddenly become a “blue state” despite her victory last night.

Election night was a defining moment nationally and worldwide.  We will need to wait and see what the future brings before we know how Election Night 2008 defines Louisiana and what type of role in the nation and the world our state will play on a stage of new realities.

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