Are LA's Catholics the reason it is more willing to vote Dem then AL, MS, ect?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Louisiana voted 52% for Bill Clinton in 1996.  Think about that for a minute. 

This happened because, at that time, Cajun Catholics voted with black Democrats, leaving White Protestants in Northern Louisiana in the minority.  This was the Edwin Edwards coalition, but it also elected John Breaux, Gillis Long, Chris John, Kathleen Blanco, and Mary Landrieu to office. 

The national Democratic Party made some major mistakes.  One was allowing Democrat Buddy Roemer to switch parties, leading to the tainted Edwin Edwards (D) having to be endorsed by Republicans against the Klansman David Duke (R) in a Governor's race.  Roemer was a whiny blowhard in his way, but he would have been on board for the national ticket in 1992 if he could have been persuaded to stay.  The other was in allowing Murphy (Mike) Foster to switch to the GOP to run for Governor.  Foster could have won as a Democrat, but Democrats got behind the ill-fated Cleo Fields challenge; this was the first step in undoing the black-Cajun coalition that could have made Louisiana as Democratic as Virginia is now. 

The running-off of MODERATE Southern Democrats who were loyal to the National Democratic Party was the biggest strategic mistake of their lifetimes.  This made the exodus of blacks during Katrina and the trends toward the GOP during the Obama years to be impossible for the Louisiana GOP to withstand.  It made Mary Landrieu unelectable.  Cajun Catholics' loyalty to the Democratic Party has been weakened by the National Democratic Party's intransigence on social issues.  Democrats have opted for uniformity on abortion and SSM at the expense of electing pro-life Democrats from places like Cajun country that would be supportive of most of the Democratic agenda.