Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal along with wife Supriya are spending the Memorial Day weekend at Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s ranch in Arizona. There is speculation that Jindal might be called Mc Cain’s Vice President. Mc Cain may present Jindal with the opportunity to speak at the 2008 Republican National Convention, in a similar fashion to Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, cementing a place for him in the party and opening the gate for a future run for the presidency.
At 36, this first-generation Indian-American Rhodes Scholar is America’s youngest governor in a southern state with a long history of racial discrimination.
Why does Mc Cain need Jindal? Well, that is quite clear. To compete against Barack Obama and his message of change, 71-year-old McCain needs a young vice president and one who is committed to doing things differently. And Jindal fits in this role very well. If McCain were to win the presidency, he would be the oldest president ever inaugurated. Not only age Jindal also brings with him the ‘diversity card’, which again will be very helpful for Mc Cain campaign.
The message would be: ‘You want generational change? You can get it with McCain-Jindal—without risking a liberal and inexperienced Obama as commander-in-chief.’
What else does Jindal stand for? Called next Ronald Regan by many, Jindal is Hindu by birth but took to Roman Catholicism while he was still in high school.
He is an opponent of abortion and embryonic stem cell research. He has said, ” I am 100% pro-life, no exceptions. I believe, all life is precious.” He has also stated that he would allow emergency contraception, which some pro-life groups consider morally equivalent to abortion. Jindal also opposes using taxpayer money to fund embryonic stem cell research that involves the cloning and destruction of human embryos.
Jindal supports the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. He addressed this issue during a September 2007 televised gubernatorial debate:
Let’s talk about intelligent design. I’m a biology major. That’s my degree. The reality is there are a lot of things that we don’t understand. There’s no theory in science that could explain how, contrary to the laws of entropy, you could create order out of chaos. There’s no scientific theory that explains how you can create organic life out of inorganic matter. I think we owe it to our children to teach them the best possible modern scientific facts and theories. Teach them what different theories are out there for the things that aren’t answerable by science, that aren’t answered by science. Let them decide for themselves. I don’t think we should be scared to do that. Personally, it certainly makes sense to me that when you look at creation, you would believe in a creator. Let’s not be afraid to teach our kids the very best science.
More about Jindal? Jindal was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to recently arrived Punjabi Indian immigrants Amar and Raj Jindal, who were attending graduate school. His father left India and his ancestral family village of Khanpura in the 1970s. His mother, Raj Jindal, is an information technology director for the Louisiana Department of Labor. In 1997, Jindal married Supriya Jolly (born 1972). The couple has three children.
Turning down offers from both Yale Law and Harvard Medical, Jindal accepted a Rhodes scholarship and moved to Oxford, earning a master’s degree in political science. After Oxford, he joined McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm, where he advised Fortune 500 companies. Most notable was his work for Indian tycoon Lakshmi Mittal of Arcelor Mittal.
Jindal accepted a position as secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals under Republican governor Murphy J. Foster Jr. in 1996. During his tenure, Jindal turned a $400 million deficit into a budget surplus by cutting per-beneficiary Medicaid spending and reducing the work force by 1000 employees, ultimately attracting the attention of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicine, which appointed him executive director in 1998. The following year Jindal was appointed president of the University of Louisiana system by the Board of Trustees, the youngest person ever to hold that position. In 2001, President Bush nominated Jindal to be assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. He was confirmed unanimously and became Secretary Tommy Thompson’s chief policy adviser.
Jindal resigned from HHS to run for governor of Louisiana in 2003. After winning the primary with a third of the vote, he went on to lose the general to Democrat Kathleen Blanco, 52-48. The loss raised Jindal’s profile in the state, however, and he was able to easily win the congressional seat vacated by newly elected Sen. David Vitter in 2004.
No, he could not. McCain will get Louisiana’s vote without him. The only reason to make a show of interviewing him is so that they can have plausible deniability of racism and anti-Catholicism.
No he will not be VP. He is a token person of color — McBush wants it to seem as if he can embrace change. Phony!
Jindal does not need McBush.
and please remember, the guy is american, not indian
Wait–didn’t Lousiana vote against the last aged Republican (Dole) who ran for president?
> and one who is committed to doing things differently
What exactly has Jindal done differently? Showing people of color can be as conservative as the southern whites, when political gains are up for grabs?
He reminds me of Dinesh D’Souza. Diversity Card–yes that could be useful for the McCain campaign. But don’t get carried away by Jindal’s ethnicity, he stands for white American republican values.
No matter what value Jindal stands for — ‘ hard working white Americans’ will not accept him.
America needs to grow up!
There are plenty of white republicans and white democrats and many of them are ‘hard working’ just as Indian-Americans, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Italian-Americans work hard. Everything is NOT about race alone but also people’s socio-economic, cultural and political values and ideals.
Believes in teaching intelligent design? Sorry Bobby, you are about a century too late to this world.
I just find it difficult to believe that Americans might accept someone “new” to America over a guy like Obama whose grandfather was in WWII, Kansas folks, deep American roots, etc. And both of Jindal’s parents are recent immigrants to the U.S. and already he’s ascending to maybe being VP? If you think people had a problem with all those rumors about Obama’s terrorist/Muslim links, etc. Get ready for Jindal, who actually has contact and DEEP roots to India, etc. With that, Obama starts to really look like the guy from Hawaii and mom/grandparents from Kansas, with deep American roots, cousin Dick Cheney, WWII grandpa, bank VP grandmother, etc. He’s just an American guy with I believe more global appeal than Jindal. He’s biracial, American, sister’s Indo-White, married to Chinese Canadian, etc. It’s more than just India. Obama’s our global guy who happens to be American. I will be voting for him. By the way, if they think Obama’s young, Jindal’s too young.
Obama 08!!!!!!!!!!
Do you know that this guy renounced Hinduism to become a Protestant Christian, then a Catholic while at Brown.
He is a charlatan.
BTW I was raised Christian in India but I can smell a political rat from hundreds of miles away in Massachusetts.
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Jindal is a smart choice for Mccain. At first glance, it appears very much like a ticket to balance out ethnicity and race but as voters get to know Jindal….I assure you they will be impressed. Agree or disagree with him, you can’t help but get the sense that this man has a burning desire to solve problems. He does what he says and he says what he does. Outside of this fact, this guy carry little traits that he’s interested in political ambition but in direct opposite…he comes across with much evidence of someone who is so driven to do good and right the wrong and fix the problems. He has no shame in debating his religious values and show little effort in supporting his vision to tackle political corruptions and reform the status quo. Again, at first, I too thought it was a choice to balance out ethnicity and age but I should have known that Mccain is not that shallow….I should have known any VP he will chooses will be somewhat of a Maverick also. Win or Loose in November…I think all americans deserve to know that there are good….very good people in governement…..Win or Loose all americans need to be exposed to Jindal so that there is a sense of comfort that the country has a very good person in government who will do good for them. Mccain – Jindal 2008 is a no brainer.
He would be a great VP simply because he is the best.
No the color of his skin, or his religion, but his work ethic, values and understand of economics…….and I am an average white American…..HE would be great!