BATON ROUGE - Rep. John Bel Edwards (D) said Thursday's endorsement by former gubernatorial opponent Jay Dardenne (R) is a "big deal" in his campaign against Sen. David Vitter (R).

But long time pollster Bernie Pinsonat of Southern Media & Opinion Research doesn't think it will make much difference. Pinsonat has studied Louisiana voters for decades and he said more than ever, they don't cross party lines.

"I don't care what Jay Dardenne does, Republicans are not going to vote for a Democrat," he said.

Pinsonat said if Dardenne had performed better in the primary, then his endorsement would carry more weight. He said it would take an endorsement from Com. Scott Angelle (R), the man who nearly beat Vitter in the primary, to sway a significant number of Republicans to vote for Edwards.

Dardenne's endorsement does have one silver lining. Pinsonat said it will likely encourage supporters of Edwards which is important for voter turn-out.