Why you should care who gets elected mayor of New Orleans

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Thursday May 18, 2006 · 10:17 AM PDT

2006/05/18 · 10:17

The race for mayor of New Orleans is nearing its conclusion. Last Tuesday night, the two candidates (incumbent Ray Nagin vs. challenger Mitch Landrieu) faced each other in their final debate.

You should care about this because we're all residents of Louisiana now. Make no mistake: the race for mayor of New Orleans will have national repercussions:

What happens to the price of gas and oil if the port of New Orleans is permanently diminished?
How much support should the Federal government be expected to give to the rebuilding of a city -- below sea level?
What effect will immigration reform have on New Orleans? More specifically, can you really rebuild New Orleans without relying on illegal immigrant labor, i.e., those who get paid below the minimum wage?
Can the national Republican party be expected to support the revival of a state that elects Democrats?
Will race divide Democrats from each other?
Which campaign strategy is the winning one -- values or competence?

These are just some of the reasons why you should keep an eye on New Orleans now -- and after the election.

n_nola_debate_060516.300w.jpg Here's MSNBC's coverage (including video) of the Nagin-Landrieu debate.

And here's another (more intriguing) interview of Landrieu and Nagin. The highlight:

Question: There's another flood. You are in a rescue boat. You arrive at a rooftop to find Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. There's only room for one in the boat. Who do you take?
Landrieu: They both get left.
Nagin: I give them the boat and get on the roof and wait for the helicopter.

Heh.

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