Posted on 10/03/2009 2:52:02 AM PDT by chemicalman
Several months ago, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was the hot ticket in the Republican Party. Unfortunately, he bombed when giving the GOP response to President Obama's address to Congress in February. Now, he is registering at the bottom of the pack among potential GOP presidential hopefuls. At the recent Values Voters Summit hosted by the Family Research Council in Washington D.C., Jindal finished seventh with only 5% of the vote.
With such lackluster results, Jindal is revamping his strategy. In an interview with Politico, Jindal recommended that Republicans work with President Obama to find compromise on the issue of health care reform. He advised that Republicans approach the President and say "we're willing to work with you in a bipartisan way."
The offer to compromise is quite a different approach from the one that Jindal has exhibited in recent Fox News interviews. He is also pursuing a different strategy from many Republicans who seem more interested in stopping any kind of health care bill.
In the same Politico interview, the Governor refused to endorse incumbent Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter for re-election. Even though Jindal headlined a Vitter fundraiser several months ago, he did not offer any kind of support for the Senator in the interview. This stance will not endear Jindal to conservatives in the Republican Party, who have rallied around Vitter in recent months. It is hard to imagine Jindal endorsing Vitter's opponent, Democrat Congressman Charlie Melancon, who supports the policies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama, so his stance is perplexing.
While Jindal has been tending to other business or traveling to fundraisers in other states, Vitter has been conducting 22 town hall meetings on the health care issue. While Jindal has been silent on the tea party movement, Vitter has been vocally supporting the local groups and leading the charge. Whether it is the issue of Obama cabinet members or the President's liberal agenda, Vitter has been in strong opposition. In contrast, Jindal has been taking a much lower profile position.
In the interview, Jindal noted that his focus is not on the presidency, but on running for re-election in 2011. However, Jindal should not assume that he will receive a free ride in the next election. Jindal's poll numbers are decent, but not particularly impressive. One problem is that he has been labeled a hypocrite on the issue of the stimulus bill. After criticizing the legislation, the Governor not only accepted the federal money, he then traveled the state distributing stimulus checks to local communities.
If Jindal has weak poll numbers in 2011, he may face competition from either Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu or State Treasurer John Kennedy. In recent weeks, Kennedy has taken the lead on the important issue of streamlining government and has acted more like a Governor than Jindal. He is conducting media interviews each day and offering concrete ideas on how to save taxpayer money. One of Kennedy's proposals is to refurbish Charity Hospital instead of building an expensive new LSU teaching hospital. Again, Jindal has been largely absent from the political debate on the issue of streamlining state government or determining the future of health care in New Orleans. If Jindal had shown leadership, he could have resolved the hospital conflict months ago.
With Kennedy has been leading on the state level and Vitter has been leading on the national level, maybe Jindal figured it was time to return to the debate. Yet, his message of compromise will not help his poll numbers here in Louisiana or among Republican activists nationwide. A large majority of Republicans want to defeat the President's health care plan, not compromise with him.
My big question is this: Where is Senator DeMints name? At this time, and I know its early days, the nomination is his to lose.
It's Palin. If you look at the history of people who actually got elected, you see that no senator has ever beaten a sitting president - and only one (Harding) has ever defeated a governor running for president.And compared to Palin, other candidates in the Republican field can't draw flies. McCain sure couldn't, and he was already the nominee of his party. I make no doubt that there are people who could write a better platform than she, but you can't beat somebody with nobody. And IMHO the risk of conservative fratricide is too great when we're faced with McCain's declared goal of purging conservatives from the Republican Party. We are IMHO well advised to throw in with Sarah as being markedly better than anything that was on offer in the race for the '08 nomination. It's true that she's been nicked by the media, but that is a simple case of taking flak when you're over the target.
IMHO things will be bad enough in '12 that the only thing that would save an Obama reelection bid, other than massive fraud, would be another McCain running on the Republican side. And if we don't unite behind Sarah, my concern is that, with the help of the media and the Democrats, McCain will succeed in sticking us with another such nominee.
If the “Value?” voters don’t wake up they are going see to it that we have marxist rule for 8 years!!
In older news, many Jewish leaders recommended that their people in Nazi Germany work with national socialists in a bipartisan way, that they meekly follow orders and hope they would be the last ones killed. In some ghettos, Jewish leaders reported resistance fighters to the socialists to avoid trouble. Jindal is following in their footsteps: if socialists want to destroy our way of life quickly, why not compromise, and maybe they'll destroy our way of life more slowly?
I agree. He has a particularly creepy smile.
Excellent points you’ve made. Governor Palin has proven her vote gathering ability and she certainly has the name recognition now. Despite the efforts of the ‘Rats and their media accomplices, all of the mud slung in her direction has failed to stick.
She is down to Earth, approachable, with good common sense and that resonates well.
I think a Palin/DeMint ticket would be something to consider.
I can speak with some knowledge of Jindal and Louisiana Politics since I have been involved in it for over 35 years.
Jindal is a sincere pro-lifer, I think, but has not had the issue tested since election to governor.
In last year’s legislative session, we (conservative activists, talk radio, bloggers) had to stand over him with a baseball bat to make him cut taxes. It was a hell of a fight and well-documented.
Also last year, we had to throw a ring-tailed fit to make him veto a tripling of legislative pay.
This past spring, we had to hold off a determined assault from the teacher’s union/public employee/college administration axis to repeal last year’s tax cut. Jindal stood on the sidelines and watched.
For sure, Jindal is an improvement over MeeMaw Blanco, but he is a Big Government Republican.
It pains me to say Bobby has been a disappointment. A Louisiana governor has awesome executive powers such as line item veto and appointments to dozens, perhaps hundreds of positions. A governor can move an agenda if he plays hardball. In the campaign, he talked like a conservative, walked like a conservative and I voted for him. He governs like a McCain-Kennedy if he is ever here to govern.
Moon Griffon, our statewide El Rushbo of talk radio claims there are actually two Jindals: Campaign Bobby and Governor Bobby. One said all the right things, the other is doing exactly nothing or worse the wrong things. He had a sterling record prior to election. What is that old saw: some places tolerate corruption, Louisiana demands it. By that measure, he is exceptional. He is an honest person, a rarity in Louisiana politics. He made his money the old fashion way, hard work.
I dont understand what he is about. There is much work to do in Louisiana. In every ranking of states where one would want to be first, we are in a death struggle for last place. In every ranking where one would wish to be last, we are near the top.
If any Freeper has seen our governor, please tell him that we are leaving the lights on for him at governors mansion in Baton Rouge. Tell Bobby, it is time to come home.
Jindal, it seems clear now, wears a RINO hide. What a disappointment. I prefer the lady who dresses in moose skins.
Acyually, the only poll that mattrs is on election day. But judging from the name[s] at the top of the list I am getting ready for four more years of obama.
Old dogz don’t let old dogz grow up to be ‘birthers’. Next you’ll be calling us TEABAGGERS. WTH is wrong with you?
What are the chances that Obama gets primaried out in ‘12?
Maybe setting up Palin vs Hillary, or Palin vs ?
John Adams and Winston Churchill were men who floated in and out of favor, not because they chased adulation and “modified their strategy”, but because they set a straight course which other men occasionally recognized as the true path.
Jindal’s obviously not ready this decade and he may never be, but that Values Voters Summit isn’t an accurate picture of where prospective candidates stand anyway.
That is REALLY going to endear him to his former base.
I would enthusiastically, happily support Sarah Palin. I have nothing but respect and admiration for her. Her picture is above my desk at work and it will stay there. The only other picture I have in my office (other than family) is Ronald Reagan.
That said, I have no problem with Jim DeMint if things go his way. Other than those two, I don’t really get excited by any of them.
What are the chances that Obama gets primaried out in 12?
Three years is an eon in politics, but I would not expect it. What, after all, is Obama doing that Hillary would object to and expect to gain traction in a Democratic Primary? Jimmy Carter was renominated in '80, and I'd expect Obama to be renominated in '12. Or else the Democratic Party would surely split on racial lines.I can conceive of scenarios in which the Republicans nominate another RINO but Palin "Goes Rogue" and gets on the ballot with the endorsement of one or more "third" parties. And proceeds to draw more votes than the Republicans, and possibly wins the presidency.
TR didn't win election in 1912, but he did outpoll the Republican ticket . . . and things stand to be worse in the economy in 2012 than they were in 1980.
[Republican] John Anderson [ran as an independent in 1980 and] won 6.6% of the popular vote and failed to win any state outright. He found the most support in New England, fueled by liberal Republicans who felt Reagan was too far to the right; his best showing was in Massachusetts, where he won 15% of the popular vote. Conversely, Anderson performed worst in the South. Anderson failed to achieve the spoiler effect, due to Reagan's strong showing and the fact that he arguably attracted at least as many Democrats to his ticket as Republicans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1980Arguably the Republican Party comes out as the "third party" in a race of a RINO vs. Obama vs. Palin.
Wrong Way Jindal!! Go BACK to CONSERVATIVE ROOTS, Bobby!
Demint says he’s not interested.
- JP
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