According to a recent LSU poll, it appears that might be the case.

Jim Brown discussed the issue in his column this week, “Louisiana holding its nose before voting, what gives?”

The LSU poll indicates that only and roughly 40 percent of the voters are really plugged into the election:

About two out of five voters are closely following the gubernatorial campaign, up from just 25 percent last spring, according to a new survey from the Manship School of Mass Communication’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs.

While this share is smaller than the 49 percent of Louisiana voters who closely followed last year’s U.S. Senate campaign, it is far more attention than what other state elections are receiving this year. Only 29 percent are voters following the elections for state legislature, while 17 percent and 15 percent are following news about the elections for the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and Lieutenant Governor, respectively.

The poll cites that:

With greater name recognition, U.S. Sen. David Vitter continues to lead in both the share of voters with a favorable opinion of him at 30 percent and an unfavorable opinion of him at 41 percent. For Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, 25 percent have a favorable opinion, and 15 percent have an unfavorable opinion. For Angelle, 22 percent have a favorable opinion, and 13 percent have an unfavorable opinion. For Edwards, 23 percent have a favorable opinion, and 9 percent have an unfavorable opinion. 

Which means that roughly 30 percent of the voters do not have either a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the candidate most believe will be in a runoff, if not, win the elections.  Also, the other candidates have even less negative and positives than Vitter which spells significantly less name recognition and exposure. 

In a video discussion, Brown, Lawrence Chehardy and Bayoubuzz publisher Stephen Sabludowsky discussed how the political world has changed over the years, including the impact of the recent Vitter and Jon Bel Edwards ads, the lack of personal connections and the digitization of the political experience.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?