Does La. need a Bob Riley like Governor

I liked Riley when I spent time in Alabama, but I think the entire country could use more good government types. Governor Blanco is a lightning rod now because she gets her share of the blame (much of it unfair). She's done a very good job outside of her Hurricane Katrina response (which will be her undoing) compared to past Republican and Democratic governors. And she's embarking on a 3 week trade mission to China, Taiwan and a couple of other east Asian countries to drum up some business and trade. She had previously done that in Cuba and parts of the Caribbean and got some bucks for the trade and port sectors.

Look, I didn't vote for the woman, but the hatred on her (especially for those who bow to President Bush) is pretty much unfair. MLU and I had been following her actions up to Katrina and had listed several reform issues that she'd gotten through (juvenile justice which was worst in the nation) and a couple of manufacturing coups she got for the state when her predecessor Mike Foster didn't even have an office of economic development (couldn't compete for those auto plants that came to MS, AL, and TN because he wasn't even in the game - and he served 8 years). To listen to the die-hard Republicans, you'd think he actually did something when in reality he did nothing.

Back to Governor Riley - he's a nice mix of middle-of-the-road no-nonsense values. Almost all the reasonable people I hung with in Mobile planned to vote for him, but apparently many in the woods would have preferred a guy like Judge Moore. :huh:

Bottom line? We have a governor (who will be a 1-term governor only) who has already done more than Governors Foster (2 terms) and Edwards (last term) who will never get any real credit because of her performance during Hurricane Katrina. That's on her.

TPS