Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announces his candidacy .
Standing before a giant American flag at an event center in this New Orleans suburb, Mr. Jindal presented himself as a policy writer whose résumé — as a two-term governor and a former congressman who once led the state health agency and the University of Louisiana system — sets him apart. He said that Louisiana cut the number of “government bureaucrats” by more than 30,000 positions, and that the state now had the highest population in its history, with more people moving to Louisiana than leaving it.
“There are a lot of great talkers running for president already,” Mr. Jindal said, adding: “We’ve had enough of talkers. It is time for a doer.”
He is, AFAIK, the first Indian-American ever to seek a major-party nomination for POTUS.
Also the first exorcist .
Salon.com articles on Bobby Jindal.
5 Things You Should Know About Bobby Jindal. (#5: Duck Dynasty likes him.)
The New York Post writes of “liberal racists” attacking Jindal, while The Atlantic writes of his “sophisticated bigotry” (against Muslims).
My take: He’s a serious candidate, certainly – any sitting or ex-governor would be. But can he really run on his record as governor? LA’s economy is drowning in the bayou. I don’t think he makes to the second round.
My favorite bit from the NY Post’s characteristically absurd take on Jindal:
The Washington Post caused a bit of a stir earlier this week with a story on Jindal that featured a (white) American college professor declaring, “There’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal.”
What are all these liberals so bothered by? It’s passages like this, from Jindal’s recent comments: “We’re not hyphenated Americans anymore.”
Jindal’s argument is clear: Your ethnic or religious heritage doesn’t make you any less fully American. You don’t need a qualifier just because your parents or grandparents were born elsewhere. This is America, after all.
For the left, being “American” insufficiently describes you for the cultural commissars of modern identity politics.
Is that what Jindal was getting at when he was lamenting non-assimilationist Muslims?
Can someone explain to me why Bobby Jindal currently has a lower approval rating than Barack Obama among Louisianans?
Indian-Americans are overwhelmingly liberal, so he’s never done very well with us. Now he’s doing worse .
Really_Not_All_That_Bright:
Indian-Americans are overwhelmingly liberal, so he’s never done very well with us. Now he’s doing worse .
Well, of course he’s distancing himself from his Indian roots, he’s running for the Republican nomination. He’s hoping the base will overlook his color, it’s just a darker shade of Aryan anyway
Mods, could you please merge this thread with this one ? Thanks.
– certainly he doesn’t want them assuming he’s a Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh or something (to the base they’re all the same thing really).