It’s official—Bobby Jindal is running for President of the United States.
Today’s initial announcement was quieter than the many that have come before it. There was no stadium, no enthusiastic crowd, no Instagram enthusiasts—just a single camera, and a conversation between Jindal and his wife and children.
It was…different. Watch:
The crowds and flashing lights will come later—his more formal announcement will take place tonight at 5:45 EST, just outside of New Orleans. Bobby’s son Shaan will be offering a behind the scenes look at the announcement on Twitter’s new live streaming app, Periscope. You can watch that stream here.
His announcement will be the first step of a long and potentially rocky road toward the nomination. While other candidates have already thrown their elbow in the door when it comes to polling, Jindal’s pre-announcement push has produced a less than enthusiastic showing.
WaPo has a prickly take:
There are already 12 other major Republican candidates in the race, with several more expected to enter soon. And Jindal is running behind nearly all of them: Several recent polls have shown him at just 1 percent support among GOP voters, either last or tied for last.
In the most recent Fox News poll, the news was even worse. Jindal wasn’t just behind all the other candidates, he was also behind “None of the Above,” which got 2 percent.
Jindal aides and advisers say that a central part of the governor’s pitch will be that he is “fearless.” His recently declared opposition to gay marriage and an executive order on religious freedoms will be data points to show that he’s willing to take on the corporate wing of the party in ways that no one else is.
“He’s not afraid to talk about things that normal politicians are nervous to talk about,” one aide said, previewing the announcement anonymously because Jindal had not formally announced his candidacy yet.
Still, Jindal could earn support from conservatives eager to humiliate the liberal establishment’s too-predictable reaction to a minority conservative entering the race. Earlier this year, MSNBC played host to a discussion that quickly took a racist (actual, legitimate racism, people—mark it down) turn when guest Arsalan Iftikhar wondered whether Jindal was using policy positions to “scrub some of the brown off his skin as he runs to the right in a presidential bid.”
It’s sick, and predictable, but also the kind of thing that flows directly into viral ads and could stand to help Jindal raise both his name recognition, and his favorability.
Before this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Professor Jacobson did a great breakdown of the horse race—and floated the theory that Jindal was already auditioning for Vice President, whether he knew it or not:
Bobby Jindal needs to show he’s not just a policy wonk, and can excite people. He may be auditioning for VP, whether he knows it or not.
…
Carly Fiorina has the most to gain at CPAC. Like Jindal, I consider her auditioning for VP, given she has not held political office before. She did well at the Iowa Freedom Summit, and a solid CPAC appearance could take her from “who?” to a serious candidate.
Interesting comparison to Fiorina. Jindal, for the most part, comes across as very approachable, likable, and “normal”—at least, that’s been my experience. He may not ever have the numbers to rise to the top of the Presidential pool, but his wonkish approach to politics and easygoing style could prove a formidable foil to Fiorina’s more commanding (and, from what I’ve seen, less-approachable) presence.
Let’s take this to the comments—how high do you think Jindal will fly?
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Top five within GOP, but no nomination, nor VP. Delivering Louisiana as VP isn’t enough.
The notion that VPs can “deliver a state” was always dubious. Several examples avail: Paul Ryan, Lloyd Bentsen, Jack Kemp, & John Edwards are recent VP nominees who failed to bring their home state. Others were chosen from states already safe, like Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, and Geraldine Ferraro.
Al Gore brought Tennessee to Clinton twice, but only with a plurality both times, and both times by less margin than the Perot vote. He couldn’t win it on his own 2000 run, though.
Only LBJ was a VP who really delivered his state, and he did it by stealing it.
His time will come, but I don’t think it will be this year. There’s too much quality competition. Still, he’s one of the better candidates, and you never know. He certainly has a better chance than Graham or Pataki, fercryinoutloud.
His recently declared opposition to gay marriage and an executive order on religious freedoms will be data points to show that he’s willing to take on the corporate wing of the party in ways that no one else is.
Challenging the Poobahs is, I suppose, a good start …. but really, it’s a trivial one. America’s slide to geopolitical impotence, permanent economic doldrums, and full-boat Socialist destruction of civil rights will NOT be arrested by policies on gay marriage, no matter how fearless they may be.
The Washington Post VS. The Washington Post
Shorter WaPo:
Not sure if Elizabeth Warren is technically brown, Bobby Jindal is hardly brown at all, and Scott Brown gets Pinocchios for questioning Warren’s brownness.
Wapo vs. Wapo, the quotes:
QUOTE 1:
“There’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal.”—Washington Post
QUOTE 2:
“The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines ‘American Indian or Alaska Native’ employees as those ‘having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America … and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.’
The operative word here is ‘and.’ Warren would not qualify as a Native American under these guidelines because she does not meet the second requirement: Official affiliation with a tribe or community.
… [I]n the debate, the Republican incumbent [Scott Brown] conflated conjecture and sketchy information to make a claim not supported by the available evidence, and so he earns Two Pinocchios.”—Washington Post
Perhaps WaPo will start with the White-Indian meme next?
Jindal may be the best qualified man in the race, but he is getting in too late and in the wrong year. And the last year or two of travel to set up a run has led to neglecting his job at home: after a reelection landslide, his popularity and approval are sharply down.
Too many other qualified candidates this year. But he would be great at HHS or any large cabinet department.
Yep. HHS — and in charge of overseeing the end of Obamacare and the implementation of a free market alternative that actually does bring down costs and empower patients.
Getting in too late!? It’s nearly a year before the campaign season starts.
I think you’re spending too much time reflecting on electing. 🙂
One reason for his drop in popularity was that Bobby Jindal forced the state legislature to indulge in an amazing bit of fiscal gimmickry.
It seems like the budget was in deficit, and he has a pledge not to raise taxes.
He consulted with Grover Norquist and seems to have come up with this: (if I understand it right)
1) Raise tuition at Louisiana state colleges.
2) Give every student an equivalent tax credit that never even passes through their hands but goes directly to the colleges.
3) Raise some other taxes.
4) Since the taxes are offset by the tax credit, net taxes have not been raised! Tuition has been raised, but nobody pays it!
some legislators complained legislators that Bobby Jindal and Grover Norquist had found a loophole in all no higher taxes pledges, and if so, all such pledges could be evaded, and suggested maybe say taxes are still reduced compared to what they were upon the governor assuming office. Lump all years together, they proposed, but Grover Norquist was having none of it and the SAVE bill went through.
!
I welcome Jindal to the race. “Steel Sharpens Steel” -Sarah Palin
There go those racist Republicans again!
I love this smart, tough, seasoned, eloquent Guy. In his announcement he—GASP/SHOCK—said he’d do all he could to destroy Radical Islam’s butchers. Imagine.
I doubt Jindal will get the head slot. Maybe VP. Maybe.
Problem is that stories are coming out about how he’s screwed the pooch handling Louisiana’s state budget; too much smoke & mirrors and not enough effective planning.
Alas, Kucinich here in Ohio has made a similar mistake by sucking up Fed funds for Obamacare.
Kucinich? Or Kasich?