National elections need overhaul

The political scene should start getting more interesting in Louisiana now that the dull Presidential election is over for us forgotten citizens. After all, there wasn’t much reason to campaign for the top office among us Pelican State residents whose majority choice was not in question.

As it turned out, registered voters in very few states got the attention they deserved as part of the union because few of them were on the line. They were not expected to count in helping to create a majority vote for either major candidate in their state. That doesn’t sound like the democracy we are supposed to be.

Had it not been for the fact that all of the states’ electoral votes went to a candidate who polled the most votes, even if he led by one, we would have gotten more attention. And then the race would have been wide open and we would have been part of the election.

But state voters will get a lot more attention politically during the next few years. Looming ahead is a big U. S. Senate race and an even bigger gubernatorial contest. Sen. Mary Landrieu has already hit the TV screens with commercials aplenty promoting herself for re-election two years hence. Possible opponents for her are said to be Congressmen Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge and Jeff Landry.

And we’re hearing a lot from Sen. David Vitter about all that he is doing in D. C. Of course he won’t be on trial until four years from now.

But there is a governor’s election in two more years in which the incumbent cannot run to succeed himself. Perhaps Vitter is getting tired of the Washington scene and wants the top spot in Louisiana where he can run more of the show and not be lost in the crowded national political scene.

So even though Louisianians didn’t have much to say in the Presidential race, they can shout their preferences for Congress and our next governor in the coming years. And maybe, someday, we’ll be able to let our votes count by amending the constitution to require that majority popular votes determine who wins the Presidential elections in the future.

That is the way a democracy should run its elections.