It has been assumed by many, myself included, that the Louisiana Governor contest this year was a lost cause, that GOP Rep. Bobby Jindal would walk to election as the next chief executive of the Bayou State. But could this week's revelations about David Vitter's, um, extracurricular activities have some profound effects upon Louisiana politics, not only this year but also in the slightly longer term? Bob Novak seems to think so (no link yet available).

As Louisiana's only statewide-elected Republican, Vitter is currently the don of GOP politics there. This scandal not only devalues his political currency, but it also embarrasses other Republicans. Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), a Vitter protégé, is far and away favored to win the governor's race later this year. But now he is saddled with Vitter. Jindal has already called for Jefferson to step down. Will he call for Vitter to do the same?

Democrats will have lots of fun with this. They may not be able to win the governor's race, but they could make it more competitive by using Vitter to embarrass Jindal. Vitter cannot step down right now even if he wants to, because he would be replaced by a Democrat. If he wants he leave, he has to wait until Jindal becomes governor. [emphasis added]

Unfortunately, I think Novak is probably right that even with this week's news about Vitter the Louisiana Governor race may still be out of reach for the Democrats, but that they can at least try to make a more respectable showing now.

Yet the more interesting question, to me, is the one I bolded above: Will Bobby Jindal call for Vitter to step down, as he has with Jefferson? Let me first take a stab at a broader question: What would happen if Vitter were forced into a resignation before incumbent Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco leaves office in early 2008? Louisiana election law (via Bob Geiger) indicates that that the Governor does not have the power to appoint a permanent replacement in the case of a vacancy. But it seems that the Governor can make a temporary appointment of perhaps up to a year (the length of the appointment is a bit shady to me) before a special election would be held. And although Democrats have had some troubles in Louisiana in recent cycles, troubles that could be compounded by population shifts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it would seem that were Vitter to resign while Blanco was still Governor the Democratic appointee (perhaps a former Democratic Congressman from the state, perhaps an up-and-coming state legislator or statewide elected official) would receive at least somewhat of a quasi-incumbency boost in a special election.

So getting back to that first question, whether or not Jindal will call for Vitter's resignation, as you can see above, there's reason to believe that for partisan reasons it is unlikely that Jindal would come out against his onetime mentor. At the same time, one can foresee the possibility of this becoming a political hot potato for Jindal should he not call for Vitter to step down. As a result, it certainly would not be a bad idea to begin to apply pressure on Jindal to be consistent in his calls for resignation, if not only to affect his gubernatorial candidacy but also possibly to help force Vitter's hand.