In a way, it’s for the best that the Senate races didn’t end up being closer nationwide. If it was currently 49 Dems, 49 GOP, 1 Independent, the runoff race in Louisiana, my home state, would be absolutely crazy. Still, lots of reporters are descending on my old turf for the next few weeks. I predict a average net gain of 10 pounds in the D.C. press corps.

The Times-Picayune has a great set of advice to those reporters. Among the hints:

- “Please try to avoid food metaphors when discussing Louisiana. Howard Fineman of Newsweek referred to our open primary as a ‘jambalaya primary’ — whatever that’s supposed to mean — in an interview on MSNBC. You also may be tempted to throw in words like “cayenne,” “Tabasco” and “spicy” when you’re talking about our politics to a national audience. Please don’t.”

- “You also should keep in mind that although New Orleans has a French history, it’s wrong to think of it as a Cajun city. Despite what you may have seen in some movies and TV shows, people in New Orleans don’t usually call each other ‘cher.’”

- “New Orleans is in the South, but not really of the South. Except for “y’all,” you’re not likely to find much in the way we talk that sounds like what you’d hear in Mississippi or Alabama or on reruns of ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’”

- “But if you go north of, say, Alexandria, you may come across areas that seem more ‘Southern’ to you. Northeastern Louisiana may seem like a westward extension of Mississippi, while northwestern Louisiana may seem like eastern Texas. Boy-howdy, you might even find some people up there who cheer for the Dallas Cowboys instead of the Saints. We are constantly looking to see if there’s any legal way to revoke the Louisiana citizenship of Cowboys fans.”

11 November 2002

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