"The rats have lost their last blue state in the South."
Louisiana was not and is not a "blue" state. Like many southern states, Louisiana at the state level is controlled by Democrats. It's a habit of long standing, going back to Reconstruction.
But, don't confuse that with conservative political leanings, when it comes to voting in presidential elections. There are enough who voted Republican in 2004 to have carried the state for Bush, amazing though that may seem in light of the fiascoes of Blanco, Landrieu, Nagin and other Democrats.
New Orleans is not representative of the whole state, in other words.
The same applies to California, however, technically we are a blue state regardless of our Reagan history.