New Orleans Historic Vote

I have three brief thouhts on last weeks Mayoral election in New Orleans"

1. I'm amazed that voters in the "Big Easy" would choose old line party insiders after the political structure there completely failed them in Hurricane Katrina. Sixty years of failed policy and deep endemic poverty were exposed by the flood, and yet voters chose more of the same. Whether it's Mayor Nagin, who let buses sit and get flooded rather than use them to evacuate people, or Landrieu, who is part of the old line corrupt party bosses there - it's more of the same. Bad choice.

2. I like the run-off system they have in place. Since no candidate achieved a majority, the top two vote getters will face a second election.

We could have used that in the Republican primary in Illinois where Judy Barr-Topinka won with 36%, while the four non-Judy candidates split the remainder. If you had a run-off election with Judy and the winner of the non-Judy votes (Jim Oberweiss), there's no way that Judy would win. Yet we're stuck with her in the general election, where her ties to convicted Governor Ryan will sink her. Nice.

3. Did all the people who voted in New Orlean's election still live there? Are the evacuees going home?