The Republican nomination, that is. Seriously, this issue is being brought up in Republican and Democratic circles around the nation. It looks as though Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will have the most delegates by the time all of the primary elections are finished but is unlikely to have amassed the necessary majority it takes to clinch the Republican nomination.

If there is no nominee by majority, the decision will be left up to the delegates at the Republican convention in what is called a brokered convention. Political heavyweights will begin to put together deals in order to shift delegates from one candidate to another.

This is not a new issue to presidential politics, just a rather entertaining one. It almost happened four years ago between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton when the issue of super-delegates came up as a possible way Clinton could take the nomination from Obama.

Romney’s problem is that he simply cannot shake his final three opponents. Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum keeps winning just enough delegates to stay in the game. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich doesn’t need money to stay in and enjoys being in the spotlight enough to fight this until Tampa, the site of the Republican National Convention in August.

Then there is Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a man whose following is passionate, ideals are firm and who is perfectly content with simply keeping his issues in the debate. As a result, it looks like the four candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination will be around for a few more weeks or even months.

Politically, this means that the eventual nominee is not raising money to beat President Obama. Instead, all of the candidates’ resources and energies are being spent trying to beat up the other guy in an effort to get the others out of the race. In addition, the candidates are attacking each other relentlessly in an effort to “out right” each other. The biggest example of this was the month’s long fight over whom was a bigger holy man regarding the use of birth control. I imagine the Democrats laughing as the Republicans went further and further down the ultra-right road in a center-right nation.

We are in the middle of early voting for the Louisiana presidential primaries, so be sure to cast your vote this week or on Saturday, March 24. Two months ago, I would have bet that Louisiana’s primary wouldn’t matter in the Republican contest because it would have been decided long ago. However, our small number of delegate might make a big difference after all.

The last bite…

Sunday, I was honored to be chosen as a judge – with Sheriff Wayne Jones and Kevin Kelly of Houmas House – of the Chefs Cook Off at the Frisco Fest in Garyville! There are few things more exciting to a foodie like myself than walking into a room with hundreds of cups of great food that I must sample! From the gumbo, jambalaya, fettuccini, shrimp and grits and stuffed mushrooms, the cooking talents and taste buds of our region were proudly on display. I give judging a Cajun chef cook off 5 out of 5 crumbs!

Buddy Boe, a resident of Garyville, owns a public relations and program management company and is well known on the local political (and food) scenes. His column appears Wednesdays in L’Observateur.