New Orleans Vote Update

Well, as you probably have heard, incumbent Ray Nagin won the election of mayor in New Orleans. I commented a few weeks ago, only half jokingly, that if "chocolate city" Nagin won re-election my faith in democracy as a viable political system would be destroyed since it would be apparent that people are simply too stupid to govern themselves. Well, I have stepped back a little bit from that: it probably isn't fair to judge an entire political system's value based upon a single election (however, it may be argued that a great number of elections in Louisiana and elsewhere also support this same conclusion).

As I have said before I do not believe Nagin is up to the task that stands before the city of New Orleans, but I am very hopeful that he will surprise me. I think it is important for those of us who are Christians to pray for him and to vigorously support some reforms and to oppose others. We must oppose any plans to create a "casino district" next to the French Quarter, as Nagin proposed just after the hurricanes, turning New Orleans into the "new Vegas." This would likely contribute to the rise of organize crime, the perpetuation of extreme poverty, and the further deterioration of and wholesome values in the city; and it would even detract from New Orleans' unique cultural identity. We must do whatever we can to lobby for the reform of the public schools and support projects that will encourage warmer race-relations in one of the most racially tense cities in the State. A stronger sense of community needs to be built here.

Now as you can see I don't have any concrete or specific ideas about how those reforms might take place (I simply don't know enough to make concrete suggestions), but I am sure people qualified to lead these reform movements are out there, and you might even know some of them, or be one of them.