Maybe Bobby Jindal is just destined to become the next governor of Louisiana. A few weeks back I wrote that the influential Democrat, former Senator John Breaux, had decided to enter the race and turn Jindal’s previously assured victory into an uphill battle. No more (thanks for the tip Manan):
Former U.S. Sen. John Breaux decided against entering the Louisiana governor’s race Friday, hours after the state’s attorney general declined to rule on whether he was eligible for the post after having moved to Maryland.
“I said I would be guided by the attorney general’s opinion, and therefore will not be a candidate for governor,” said the Democrat, who represented Louisiana for 32 years in Congress.
Earlier in the day, Attorney General Charles Foti said a court should rule on the question of whether Breaux was eligible to run in the Oct. 20 primary…At issue was a requirement of the Louisiana constitution that requires candidates for statewide elected office be a “citizen” of the state for “at least the preceding five years.” Breaux has been a Maryland resident since 2005. [Link]
Carpetbaggers never were much liked in the South, even if originally from there it seems. So who will be next to step up to the Jindal machine? The Dems can’t just give up on Louisiana all together. The Washington Post blog looks at some potential candidates but none of them really have Jindal’s street cred. Stay tuned and I will keep bringing you the twists and turns associated with this potentially historic race.
How hard would it be to replace an ovarian mess like Blanco? Where out of sheer BDS she refused to let the federal government take authority of LA National Guards, and then justified it by crying on TV while people were dying…
Even though I think Jindal would be a better Governor, I also hope another Democrat wins, so the state can be screwed up even more. The bastards deserve it for voting for Blanco in the first place.
i think anyone who uses the term “bush derangement syndrome” uncritically (without parsing out the very loaded statement that it is) should also think seriously about acquiring some reading material that passes a peer review. ( and i’m not talking about the conservative echo chamber at Regnery books).
people in Lousiana are racist. I should know, I grew up there. the bottom line is firstly that Jindal’s chances are tenuous at best (we’re talking about a state where, just a couple elections ago, we almost elected an open grand wizard of the Klan), and if he is elected, best case scenario is that he’ll become a scapegoat for every problem Louisiana has, just as Blanco has. and Louisiana has no shortage of blame to throw around.
if Jindal is smart, he will do everything he can not to get elected and find a nice little spot of K street where he can spend the rest of his career. deciding to go into politics in Louisiana was the worst choice he ever could have made. it’s a lose-lose situation because eventually, yes, race, and a lot of other much bigger and more nebulous things like machine politics, corruption, religion, tradition, old families, old money, etc. etc. etc. is going to matter. this is probably the one state in the union where even the best possible option is political suicide (ok, maybe Mississippi would be equally bad).
though it would be interesting if he won, and if he succeeded, just because it’s such an amazing long shot.
the opoponax, You analysis of the situation seems ignorant at best even if you did grow up there.
Mr. Breaux, please don’t go.
Murali, Yeah, I thought about reading something that was poor reviewed, but I did not like how scholars insist on using “I” instead of “i”, like all intelligent, good hearted people. As you can tell, I obviously am not such a person. Pity me, my friend.
Also, do pick up a dictionary, and lookup the appropriate use of “parsing”.
Furthermore, thanks for also engaging with something I said rather than just erecting some straw man arguments.
Of course, that should be “peer reviewed”. While I do appreciate the irony, I can assure it was poor typing rather than poor spelling.
man, i wish NY had that law when hillary first ran….
how is that, exactly, abhi?
the idea that Jindal would not only win but really and truly have the support of the people of Louisiana (not to mention the smoky back rooms of the FAMOUSLY corrupt Louisiana political machine) is almost as laughable as the idea of free and open elections in North Korea next year.
the fact that Jindal is as insanely right wing as many of those who will see his last name (among MANY other superficial things) helps, but at the end of the day, he’s a prop of the Republicans. which is a great way to get a post in the House, but not such a great way to get into anything that will give you any real power.
in Illinois or New York or Kansas or some state where the political apparatus actually functions according to how it looks on paper, he would have a chance. but in Louisiana, if your name isn’t Landrieu, Edwards, or Morial, and/or you haven’t spent at least 30 years currying the right kind of political favor, you are NOT going to be Governor. even Blanco was an absolute shock. and look how that’s turned out.
sorry, that should have been: “as many of those who will see his last name (among MANY other superficial things) as a reason not to vote for him helps”
but you get the idea.
A Desi President is looking plausible as early as ’12. I think Jindal is better positioned to become president than Obama for all the obvious reasons (he’s a brown guy that won’t have to court far left segments of minority communities during the primaries). I’m surprised Jindal remains such an outlier though in terms of Desi Americans mounting credible bids for offices that are stepping stones to the presidency.
So now the crazy, moonbat liberals in the bunker want to latch on to a Republican solely b/c he happens to be desi? Have some integrity and remain true to your ideology–the fact that Jindal is desi is irrelevant. For anyone to say otherwise hints at some lingering issues that remain unresolved from childhood…
Essence, an African American women’s magazine that usually supports liberal democrats, has honored Condoleeza Rice in the past. Many african american politicians in Maryland that are usually liberal democrats supported (or publicly flirted with supporting) Michael Steele for Governor, also for reasons that primarily seemed to be about race and representation.
Jindal came within 50K votes of winning last time. I think at this point most middle of the road people will probably be happy to throw their support behind Jindal, which is all he would need. They fliched last time, because of his rediculous stance on abortion (He was asked if his daughter were raped and became pregnant, would he allow her to have an abortion?, His response “I would ask her to have tha child.”) Talk about conservative. But I think most intelligent moderates will realize the Governor of Louisiana can’t do anything about a woman’s right to choose.
Furthermore, Jindal’s track record in Congress has been pretty productive and frankly pragmatic, despite his rhetoric.
I don’t know if Jindal is presidential material, but I do know that Louisiana needs help and I think the people are ready to try something new. The racists and the moderates, at least.
Oh and there were these guys named Mike Foster, Buddy Roemer, and Huey Long..all of who do not have the last names of Morial, Edwards, and Landrieu (Morials are done).
At the end of the day, even without a strong opponent, Jindal is no lock. He led Blanco by upper single digits prior to the last election, and ended up losing by a couple points. Post-mortem analysis at the time showed that quite a few Republican voters (primarily in north Louisiana) said they would vote for Jindal, but went in the other direction in the voting booth. Louisiana has been trending conservative, and Katrina seems to have accelerated that by decreasing the voting population in the most Dem-leaning part of Louisiana, the City of New Orleans – all that bodes well for Jindal.
I grew up in La. as well, and don’t believe it’s any more (or less) racist than much of the South, or many places in the US in general. Having said that, I think a nontrivial percentage of voters are unwilling to vote for a non-white candidate when it’s time to pull the lever (I think that will affect Obama as well, if he gets that far).
But Jindal’s chances just got a lot better with Breaux’s withdrawal. More power to him, not just for the brown angle, but at least he knows something about economic development – the one thing Louisiana needs more than anything else.
Dave (11):
I would disagree. I think he has far less of a chance than Obama. He has yet to win the gubernatorial race, after all, and his fundraising machine is pretty limp compared to other Republican frontrunners in the ’08 election.
That, and I don’t think he plays as well with minorities as you say.
Finally, I plain just don’t like the guy. He’s disingenuous, his politics are just this side of absurd, and he’ll say practically anything to get elected. I know that doesn’t carry much weight in the big picture, but if he ever declares his candidacy, wait until you see the email campaign I’ll wage on his ass.
Shock and awe, that’s all I have to say. 🙂