Posted on 07/18/2012 10:47:59 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
[SNIP]
The Indian-American community can be a major source of campaign cash if they are activated to give. Picking Jindal as VP would ensure huge buy-in — figuratively and literally — from this community.
Jindal isn’t oozing charisma like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. But neither is he labeled as a vanilla pol in the way that Portman and Pawlenty have been cast.
Jindal wouldn’t likely overshadow Romney — as Christie and Rubio clearly would — but neither would he be lumped in with the “boring white guy” pick that might not get Romney the sort of bump he is looking for.
There are other ways where Jindal is a sort of middle-of-the-road pick too. His resume — he spent several terms in Congress before being elected governor in 2007 — allows Romney to pick someone who knows how the levers of power work in Washington but who has largely built his reputation outside of the nation’s capitol. He’s an insider’s outsider. Or an outsider’s insider. Whatever. You get the point.
Remember that the first rule of vice presidential picking is “Above all, do no harm”. That means that a sort of “warm porridge” guy (he’s not to hot or too cold) like Jindal could have real appeal to Romney.
* A reform record: In his four-plus years in office, Jindal has built a very impressive record that would fit nicely with Romney’s promises to bring conservative principles to the federal government.
Jindal’s top priority coming into office was ethics reform — political corruption is as common as good beignets in Louisiana — and he got it done quickly. Jindal also pushed hard to reform the state's education system, an effort that won him praise from none other than the Wall Street Journal op-ed page.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
* Super wonk: While Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan gets credit within the Republican party as their wonkiest national voice, Jindal has a case to make that he actually deserves that title. This is someone who was running the Louisiana department of health and human services at 25 and two years later was appointed the executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
If Romney wants to prove that he is serious about repealing President Obama’s health care law and replacing it with a more conservative approach, there is no one on the Republican side — with the possible exception of Romney himself — who knows the issue better than Jindal.
Picking someone with widely regarded policy chops like Jindal would also allow Romney to make the argument that he made a governing choice not a political choice in his vice presidential nominee — a sign that he is ready, willing and able to step into the office and do the job on day one.
_________________________________
I know I know, there is the Natural Born issue ... but FReepers are SPLIT on this one and so is the country in general. Plus, if Obama is already de facto President and none of the laws he signed are invalid by virtue of his unconstitutional status, I don’t see why given that precedent, Jindal is going to be disqualified.
From a vetting perspective, Jindal has obvious downsides. Among them are an element of his background sure to dominate cable chatter if he were selected. In December 1994, Jindal wrote an article in the New Oxford Review (teaser here; subscription required for full version) that details his presence at the dorm-room exorcism of a female friend. Without casting any aspersions on Jindal’s beliefs, it’s safe to say that Romney — who has dealt with an undercurrent of bigotry toward his own faith — likely wants to avoid a protracted discussion of religious practices that would overshadow his focus on the economy.
Jindal’s record as governor would also come under critical scrutiny. As the Wall Street Journal wrote in a glowing profile this week, Jindal “has won plaudits for his smooth handling of crises such as 2008′s Hurricane Gustav and the 2010 Gulf Oil spill.” As I wrote at the time, Jindal became a hero for his aggressive attacks on the federal government’s response to the spill. But his policy prescriptions were questionable. Jindal pushed hard for the government to construct a pricey barrier of sand berms to protect the state’s marshland from oil, and the project was ultimately OKed over the objections of scientists. An investigative commission subsequently found that the project was a $220 million boondoggle that captured little oil. In a way, it’s not surprising that Jindal’s view broke with the scientific community; as governor, he signed a bill that provides for the teaching of creationism in public schools.
Finally, there’s the comfort factor. At the start of the primary, Jindal was an outspoken supporter of Texas Governor Rick Perry. He didn’t endorse Romney until April, long after Perry left the race. Unlike Pawlenty, who has been a dogged surrogate for Romney, Jindal is not said to have a strong rapport with the former Massachusetts governor. While Romney has regularly invited rumored veep candidates (such as Portman) to campaign with him over the past few months, his meeting with Jindal on Monday was the pair’s first joint meeting of this phase.
If WaPo likes him, the question then has to be “What’s wrong with him?”.
Thanks, WaPo, for the recommendation. Appreciate your conservative support.
as I have been saying, the commies would love for jindal or rubio to be VP, thus putting the illegal commie usurper into the “we iz alls da sames now category.
The general tendency of conservatives is to ask this — IF A LIBERAL RAG LIKE THE WASHINGTON COMPOST likes a Republican candidate, DON’T GO FOR HIM because that is a sign that they want him to run because he WILL LOSE.
If the Wa Po wants Jindal, we have to be concerned.
Gee, no one sees the Outsourcing of the Vice Presidency coming.....
I agree with this article. Jindal is the best choice. He is young, but unlike Rubio, he is both conservative and experienced and ready to step in immediately if Romney were to drop dead.
GMTA.
In before the eligibility crowd comes screaming with their torches and pitchforks to make sure everyone knows that Jindal and Rubio don’t pass their ‘test’.
Please, NO!
Nice guy— but not eligible.
Two wrongs, three wrongs, a dozen don’t make one right.
Two wrongs, three wrongs, a dozen don’t make one right.
True. But it's amazing how many FReepers don't believe in the US Constitution nor the rule of law.
They'd condone any anchor baby from a third world banana republic is just as qualified to be an American President as a US born citizen from American born parents.
[ The general tendency of conservatives is to ask this — IF A LIBERAL RAG LIKE THE WASHINGTON COMPOST likes a Republican candidate, DON’T GO FOR HIM because that is a sign that they want him to run because he WILL LOSE. ]
They want Jindall because then they can paint him as a “Religious Nutball” due to his excorsism experiance and they will use that along with the “Mormon Narrative”.
The constitution does not define natural born citizen, and despite hundreds of lawsuits, no judge has ruled Obama ineligible. Fact is that, because he was born in the US, he is natural born. If he had been born in India and received his legal citizenship after moving to the US, he would be naturalized, but not natural born, and ineligible. Everyone here believes in the rule of law, you just don’t know the law.
I agree 100% but some of the sheep around here don't understand the fundamental differences between right and wrong. If they believe it's okay for anchor babies to be President of the United States, they should follow the rule of law and vote to change our Constitution.
Perhaps you've not been aware that for the last year and a half, the "fact" that Obama was born in the US is being discredited.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.