Ok, I heard a rumor about that. It sounds like you have a better understanding of it. From what I understand, though, many of the typical state politicos decided to join the Thompson slate a while ago.
You may be correct on that point.
A big problem down here is that Louisiana’s Republican party has some identity issues, rooted in the fact that for so long this state was absolutely DOMINATED by the Democrats. To be a Republican was just about political suicide.
Now that being “conservative” and Republican is seemingly the way to go in many areas of the state (mainly outside New Orleans and parts of Baton Rouge) many a former Democrat have switched to the Republican party.
Unfortunately, many of them, whether truly conservative or merely “conservative” out of political expediency, have continued to cling to the tried-and-true “good ol’ boy” style of politics that has ALWAYS dominated down here.
So... You end up getting all of the same people coalescing together year after year, rarely weeding out the frauds from the authentic.