Dardenne Now Out Of The Senate Race

Well, there were some that said he was out before he was in.  I wondered if he might be considering things anyway since there are certainly some interesting names coming about that would want to be Governor after Bobby Jindal leaves office.  Still, the recent announcement that Jay Dardenne will not be seeking the Senate seat currently filled by Mary Landrieu is kind of surprising and kind of not.

Dardenne has been considering a run for a little while and has had some name recognition that could help him.  But, his run would be complicated by other Republicans that appear to be lining up to run against Mary Landrieu.  Bill Cassidy is in the running, there is even some talk that former Congressman Jeff Landry could throw his hat in the ring.  It has become less crowded of late, so maybe that might be a good thing for those left behind.

Truthfully, I feel like one thing needs to happen if Republicans want to take this seat.  They simply need to get together beforehand and decide who they want to stand behind.  While the process goes forward and it sounds great on paper, in a very real sense, if the GOP takes its time and lets everyone that decides to be in actually run, Mary Landrieu will have no opposition.  The race needs to be about contrasts and not about Democrat versus three brands of Republicanism.  Unity is needed if this seat is to turn red.

The weeding out process is continuing, but there is certainly more to come.  There will even be more names to throw into the ring, so we are nowhere close to being done yet.