Political Nexus

Hot on the heels of the North American summit between President Bush, Mexican president Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper a few days comes news which should put New Orleans even more in in the political spotlight. Republican nominee apparent John McCain will be here tomorrow to tour the Ninth Ward area and to meet with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the new wunderkind of the Republican Party. McCain will only be here for a day to pump up his statewide campaign, where he appears heavily favored to win the state in the November presidential elections. Meanwhile, Jindal is looking forward to making his first national TV appearance on Monday's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. How Jindal comes across will definitely help shape how big a player he will be in the Republican convention and there are several of his biggest supporters who are hoping to catapult his popularity into a run for higher elective office on the national scene. Meanwhile, former Democrat John Kennedy (now a member of the G.0.P.) geared up his campaign for U.S. Senator with a powerful ally, none other than the top Republican, President Bush, at a rally yesterday in Baton Rouge. The President appeared at a fundraiser for Kennedy who hopes to unseat popular politico Mary Landrieu. Landrieu has been raising money for her own war chest, but she has yet to draw as impressive a figure as Bush to endorse her.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is relishing a hard fought victory in Pennsylvania. While North Carolina and Indiana loom large, it is apparent that she is seeing her former hold over the nomination process slip away from her although she is holding a firm line. If she were able to pull off an upset in North Carolina, I would be the first one to rally the troops for her, but even the most ardent of her backers acknowledge that Obama looks like a shoe-in there and that her best hope is Indiana, provided she wins big. As Sonny and Cher once sang, "The Beat Goes On."