Our problem is going to be if Vitter tries to pull a fast one, leave early and appoint some party-approved hack to the seat who would then have an advantage in the special (think ST John Kennedy), for the purpose of clearing out a potential challenger.
He has been more conservative recently. He should be lobbied to let the voters choose their next senator. If he does, and Maness runs, then Maness will be the frontrunner.
Vitter is running for Governor. The election is next year (October, 2015). He is going to win. He will appoint his replacement to serve out the remainder of the Senate term, which ends in 2016.
If Vitter becomes governor, and I am not certain he will, I don’t think he would appoint Maness to the Senate, probably Scalise instead. Colonel Maness did not win a single parish outright Tuesday, but he did as well as he could for one lacking name ID.