My disdain for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is well-documented in one of my previous columns:
http://www.asianweek.com/2007/10/26/uncle-bob-jindal-man-of-no-color/
If you’ve been wondering what’s happened to Jindal since his rise in October, the man I’ve called the “Obama of the Right” has caught the attention of the McCain camp.
In a race this Fall that’s all about change, where’s the change in a McCain candidacy? There isn’t much change unless McCain goes with a woman (former HP CEO Carly Fiorina has been touted), or if the candidate goes with a minority veep.
For McCain, the most obvious “ticket balance” need, however, is neither gender nor race, but age.
McCain could go to campaign stops passing out Viagra. But for ticket balance he’d better have a good understudy to bridge any generation gap.
Enter Jindal?
The name is being touted by no less than four McCain insiders, according to the New York Times’ Guillermo Kristol in today’s editions.
Jindal certainly doesn’t have the experience. But the scuttlebutt says that McCain-Jindal mitigates against any perceived “change” advantage an Obama nomination might have. According to Kristol, if you don’t want to risk having Obama as commander-in-chief, then the Mc-Cain Jindal alternative might satisfy.
In Jindal, the GOP would have some appeal on age, race, and the South. (Louisiana, not South Asia).
This presumes that Obama is the nominee, of course. (No certainty even after his denouncing Rev.Wright as a running mate).
Hillary Clinton, of course, may still get the nomination, and then Fiorina would be thrust more into the discussion as a counter.
But the Jindal mention is more interesting. He would be an inspired but diabolical choice. Just like the right uses Asian Americans to fight affirmative action, Jindal represents the perfect tool for the GOP.
And of course, if given the opportunity, I’m sure he will gladly and willingly be used to the chagrin of the broader Asian American community.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/opinion/05kristol.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
As to why Jindal is the “Obama of the Right,” see another column of mine on post-Affirmative Action politics: