It was seven months ago we, the people of Louisiana, got a new Governor. Bobby Jindal was no longer in the Governor's office. There was a new sheriff in town and his name was John Bel Edwards. Many people thought that Edwards would have no chance of sitting in the state's highest office especially since his opponent for Governor was David Vitter. Mr. Edwards proved those naysayers wrong. Now, what has he done for you and I in his first seven months as Governor?

Probably the most notable aspect of John Bel Edwards' first seven months in office is this. He has made your state representatives and senators go to work for you. Jeremy Alford with LaPolitics.com said in his comments to the Louisiana Radio Network.

He kept legislators in one session after another to the point where they served more consecutive days in any other legislature dating back to 1812, that kind of set the stage for his first term in office.

You might recall that Edwards' choice for Speaker of the House did not earn the position. This meant an adversarial tone from the beginning for the Governor and the legislature. As you might imagine the tough cuts in the budget and the increase in revenue generation also created a lot of friction between the executive and legislative branches of our state's government.

In seven months time a lot of water has passed under the bridge. However, it was water coming out of its banks that greeted the new governor very early in his administration.

There was some serious flooding around the state that he traveled quite a bit to address and then of course there were the shootings in Baton Rouge during the month of July, it certainly has been a rocky seven months.

Despite the difficult challenges more and more Louisiana residents are developing a favorable opinion of the job Mr. Edwards is doing for our state. His approval numbers are tremendous when you compare them to the approval ratings that Bobby Jindal was achieving right before he left the office.

John Bel Edwards is not only doing call-in shows, he’s showing up at youth leadership conferences, he’s showing up at Rotary Club functions.

This transparency and willingness to be in the public eye and not hide behind press releases and sound bites has been embraced by many Louisiana residents. We certainly aren't saying that Mr. Edwards can stroll unimpeded into a second term. What we are suggesting is that his tactics to get in front of the people have been appreciated. It still remains to be seen if his policies will be appreciated in a similar manner.

 

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