Did anyone in 2004 think Obama was going to be the Dem nominee for President, much less becoming the President in 2008? My point is that just because Jindal is unknown now doesn’t mean that he can’t be the nominee in 2012. Trust me, there are enough conservatives out there who are willing to raise money for him or support him... even now. Not being well-know is not a big obstacle if you have 4 years to change that.
I promise this will be the last Jindal-boosting posting (I’m sure everyone is sick of my posting as it is!). An excerpt from a local New Orleans article today — it’s very interesting and reveals much Jindal’s attractiveness:
Jindal blamed this year’s GOP’s losses on the party straying from the themes of fiscal conservatism, anti-corruption and policy innovation that worked in the previous decade. “You can’t beat something with nothing, “ Jindal said. “For too long it seemed the Republican message was, ‘vote for Republicans because the other side is worse.’ And that’s simply not a good enough reason to win elections.”
Ornstein, of the American Enterprise Institute, said states likely will continue to be crucibles for experimentation during Barack Obama’s administration, as the new president will inherit record budget deficits that will make it tough for him to fulfill his ambitious domestic agenda. And that, in turn, could work to Jindal’s advantage. “We’re not going to have the resources or the votes (in Washington) to do sweeping health care changes, “ Ornstein said.
Allying both wings
Should Jindal enter the national fray, Republicans will be hoping he can help reconcile a party that occasionally has been riven by dissent between social conservatives and those who consider economic issues such as spending and taxes to be paramount.
“He is one of the few Republican politicians that has been able to fuse the two parts of the Republican Party, the social conservatives and the business conservatives, “ said Wayne Parent, an LSU political science professor.
Obama has proven that being an unknown doesn't prevent you from being President. He did have 19 months of exposure during the primaries going all over the country. I am certainly not ruling out Jindal as the nominee. My point is that Palin is no longer an unknown. She is a national celebrity. We know all about her thanks to the legions of investigators sent to Alaska to dig up dirt. Hell, we know more about Joe the Plumber than we do Jindal.
I have no problem with Jindal, but he is going to have tp prove himself on the national stage. Romney may have had one of the most impressive resumes of any candidate for President since Eisenhower. He just couldn't connect with the GOP masses.