The little things

The Louisiana Democratic Party, such as it is, has spent much of the past month backslapping and high fiving over its last second muster to very narrowly reelect a conservative Governor. But if they're being honest, they have to admit the 2019 election was close to a total disaster. Republicans hold historically large majorities in the legislature (a "supermajority" in the Senate, in fact.) Their agenda is going to begin with limiting your right to sue if you are injured by corporate malfeasance. There will probably be another stab at tilting the ITEP rules back (further) in favor of big business. And, of course, there will never ever ever be a successful attempt by this legislature to raise the minimum wage above the federal standard.

So it could have been a lot worse if John Bel weren't going back up there to stand around and frown at the Republicans until they behave somewhat. But it's still going to be very bad.  In the meantime, it's the little wins that matter. And from the looks of things, today's election of Clay Schexnayder to the Speaker's chair above Sherman Mack is probably one of those little wins.

The speaker’s race pitted Republicans against one another, as Kennedy and Landry ran negative ads against lawmakers allied with Schexnayder and Baton Rouge businessman Richard Lipsey funded digital ads against Mack. Republican donor Lane Grigsby also pushed for Mack.

Hard to know what the long term consequences will be. But any time you can make John, Jeff, and Lane upset on the same day, has to be considered at least a little bit good.