John Maginnis is a writer of columns and commentaries on current political events in Louisiana.[1] His column, always about the latest political event in Louisiana, appears in newspapers and other sources around the state.[2] His web site[3] is read by political analysts nationwide as a barometer of governmental trends and events in Louisiana. Maginnis has been interviewed by Robert Siegel on National Public Radio (NPR) concerning Louisiana political trends,[4] and he was Andrea Seabrook's main source of commentary when NPR analyzed the 2008 December 6 upset of Louisiana Democrat William J. Jefferson by Republican newcomer Anh "Joseph" Cao in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.[5]
Maginnis has been covering Louisiana political events since 1972. He has written two books: The Last Hayride (1984) concerned the rise of Edwin Edwards to a then-unprecedented third term as Governor by defeating Republican David Treen in 1983;[6] and Cross to Bear (1992) narrated the controversial general election of 1991 when Edwards, thought to be politically finished, re-entered the governorship for a fourth term by coming up as the remaining alternative to David Duke.[7]
In 2008 Maginnis began touting Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as a potential Republican contender for President or Vice President of the United States, while also questioning whether Jindal's potential for those offices was taking Jindal away too frequently from state duties in Louisiana.[8] Maginnis particularly observed Jindal's lack of enthusiasm for the Obama administration's economic "stimulus package" prior to Jindal's speaking to the nation as the Republicans' chosen responder to Obama's first address to Congress on 2009 February 24.[9]