The latest U. S. News and World Report rankings of the states in the Union are now out, and Louisiana is dead last in that survey.
According to the magazine, Louisiana ranked in the bottom 10 in each of the eight metrics it studied, including crime, education, and health care. However, one Louisiana pollster says he's taking those ranking with a grain of salt.
"Just saying education and health care is so broad and generic that it could mean different things depending on the political views of the person taking the survey," JMC Analytics pollster John Couvillon said.
Couvillon notes the rankings ignore specific issues that impact the residents of each of the 50 states, such as the Louisiana home insurance crisis.
"The thing about is: there are metrics, and then there are metrics that drive voters," Couvillon said. "You're talking about a one-size-fits-all survey that may not address individual concerns applicable to a state."
In fact, Couvillon says the metrics used by U. S. News and World Report did not have much of an impact on last fall's gubernatorial election.
One example, Couvillon points out, is Republican candidate Stephen Waguespack using the state's outmigration problem as a platform plank and how it failed to drive voters to his camp.
"I haven't really seen that issue as something that's really impacted the outcomes," Couvillon said.
Couvillon adds that that the magazine's rankings fail to take into consideration intangibles that can't be measured.
"Louisiana has the Cajun culture and New Orleans as its biggest selling points, and I think that kind of stuff would overshadow a number-41 ranking in that category or a number-46 ranking in that category," Couvillon said.