NEW ORLEANS PLAYS, AND VOTES – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  Lost in all the Super Bowl glitter – it's the New Orleans Saints versus the Indianapolis Colts – is the fact that New Orleans elected a new mayor yesterday, replacing the unspeakable Ray Nagin, whose performance during Hurricane Katrina remains a legend.  (Yes, I am laughing and choking at the same time.)

Nagin, whose greatest pronouncement was that New Orleans would remain a "chocolate city," completely fell apart during the hurricane.  He could be found in a luxury hotel.  But the PC army in the nation's media covered for him, as it did for the equally unspeakable governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco.  All the blame for problems was placed on BUSH (!!).  Keith Olbermann, the unstable commentator at MSNBC, did manage to spread the blame a bit, also pointing the finger at Secretary of State Condi Rice.  As we all know, secretaries of state are responsible for hurricanes. 

But now a new era begins, with a family name familiar to Louisiana politics:

NEW ORLEANS - Frustrated by term-limited Mayor Ray Nagin’s leadership of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, voters elected Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu to succeed him Saturday, turning to a political scion to speed up the city’s recovery.

Landrieu, 49, became the majority-black city’s first white mayor since 1979, the year his father Moon left the office. The mayor-elect, a moderate Democrat, won in a landslide over a field of 10 opponents in a campaign that concluded as Carnival celebrations and preparations for the New Orleans Saints’ appearance in the Super Bowl took place.

Landrieu’s victory party was a nod to both: the ballroom of a the Roosevelt hotel — recently reopened after a post-Katrina restoration — was festooned with Saints-themed black and gold balloons. A roving brass band played Mardi Gras tunes and he prefaced his victory speech by leading the crowd in the Saints’ "Who Dat" cheer.

COMMENT:  Mitch's sister is Senator Mary Landrieu, architect of the "Louisiana Purchase," which grabbed $300-million for the state in exchange for her vote on health-care reform.  Since "reform" hasn't passed, the money may stay in Washington anyway.

So a new era begins in The Big Easy.  But if there's another hurricane, they'll still blame Bush.

February 7, 2010