The meaning of 55 in Louisiana gubernatorial politics.

55 has two major meanings, in fact:

• First off, it’s ‘merely’ Governor Bobby Jindal’s approval rating in Louisiana last year – and unchanged, six months before the election*.
• Second, it’s the number of signatures on the latest recall petition against Jindal – a petition that expires next week.

If you look at the above Politico article from December, you might suspect that the Politico author might just be the slightest bit disappointed in the second bullet point… although it’s highly unlikely that the author’s name would have been on the petition, even if she did live in Louisiana.  Which is kind of the point.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Bobby Jindal for Governor.  Like this was a hard call to make.

*This last link via TPM, which seems to be a little (quietly) put out that it’s three months and change before the primary and they don’t even have a credible Democratic candidate yet.  What, former Senator John Breaux?  I don’t know, he hasn’t announced yet: and you may want to ask Russ Feingold why.  And I don’t think that anyone’s expecting former Governor Kathleen Blanco to announce, given that she’s currently in recovery from treatment for a rare eye cancer.  In fact, what we are seeing here is a quiet collapse of the Democratic party in Louisiana.  Which may have its own problems for the Republicans, down the line – but it’s instructive to see just how badly Hurricane Katrina wrecked the Democratic brand in that state.