Demographics aren't destiny, but they have certainly made Louisiana and South Carolina competitive.
Dems have been consistently bleeding in the rural areas and smaller metros of Louisiana since 2000, and modest gains in what are still heavily Republican suburbs aren't enough to offset that given the state's population distribution. I don't see it becoming competitive anytime soon unless some great unforeseen circumstance causes mass rural depopulation (faster sea level rise than expected, catastrophic Mississippi River flooding, etc). I doubt that the redder urban areas and suburbs of South Carolina will gain the appeal to invite needed diversification as well, and rural bleeding is also a problem there.
