Probably not Vitter, but who will Nagin endorse, if anyone? Morrell? John? Kennedy? And what if their candidate doesn't reach the runoff? A lot of others will face those same questions. How much power does Breaux have now that he's retiring? It's already apparent that not all Democrats are ready to acquiesce to an orderly succession.
As far as the N.O. machine, I got the impression that Nagin didn't have much to do with it.