James Carville isn’t a native son of New Orleans – he was born in Georgia – but he did go to LSU and now he lives in the Crescent City as he teaches political science at Tulane.
But just because he wasn’t born here doesn’t mean he doesn’t live and breathe New Orleans and after reading an opinion he penned for CNN.com, it’s hard to imagine he’s not one of the best spokesman for the city.
Carville says that what two days in early February did for New Orleans is show the country that New Orleans “is storming back.”
He writes:
“The The day before the Super Bowl, New Orleans participated in a historic mayoral election, as Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu won a stunning 66-percent of the vote, with unprecedented support among all races.
“African-American candidates also won down-ballot races with majority white support, casting a blow to the notion that New Orleans politics and culture are mired in racial tension.
“Just weeks before, federal arbitrators awarded $475 million to Louisiana for the replacement of Charity Hospital in downtown New Orleans which makes way for a multibillion dollar medical corridor that is being billed as the largest development project in the city's history.
“And in late 2009, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' mismanagement at the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was the cause for flood damage in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Damages paid to local governments and residents will exceed $1 billion. These judgments validate many locals' beliefs that the flooding of 80 percent of New Orleans and the billions of dollars in damage were caused more by massive engineering failures than a natural disaster.”
For the complete column, click onto CNN.com.
