jindal

Yesterday Michael Medved interviewed the very popular 36 year old Governor of Lousiana Bobby Jinal. Medved vocally supports Jindal to be McCains pic as Vic President. The following is Medveds analysis from an article he penned listing the pro’s and con’s of McCains VP shortlist:

PRO: His impeccable conservative credentials (a 98% American Conservative Union rating during his two terms in Congress) and stalwart defense of human life (“I am 100 percent pro life with no exceptions”) would help rally worn right-wingers to McCain’s cause. Rush Limbaugh has praised Jindal as “the next Ronald Reagan – winning with 100 percent pure conservatism.” Jindal’s remarkable success with ethics legislation during his first months as governor of notoriously corrupt Louisiana would also help McCain run as a reformer who could clean up “the mess in Washington” the way his running mate cleaned up the mess in Baton Rouge. Above all his youth (he’ll be 37 at the convention) and brilliance (biology degree from Brown, Rhodes Scholar at Oxford) would help Republicans balance some of the hysterical excitement over Obama. As the son of immigrants (who arrived from India for graduate school in Louisiana when Jindal’s mother was pregnant with him) he could help connect with Hispanic voters, where Republicans desperately need help. Asians will also make up 4% of the electorate and by placing the first Asian-American on the ticket, McCain could help stop the drift of this growing segment of the population toward the Democrats. Also, Jindal is a devout Catholic (he converted in high school from Hinduism) and has written thoughtful theological pieces for conservative Catholic journals. His ability to connect with religious Catholics will help in any number of battleground states. Finally, he displays an ease on TV and a sense of humor that will disarm all critics: his appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno has become a favorite on You Tube and represented a triumph for the young governor. With Jindal on the ticket, voters wouldn’t have to go to the Democrats in order to elect our first person of color to national office.

CON: He’s too young, too inexperienced – how can Republicans criticize Obama as unprepared, when Jindal is ten years younger? Actually, this argument ends up turning in Jindal’s favor, since he possesses vastly MORE experience than Obama, particularly in executive positions. In addition to his early triumphs as governor, he’s also won spectacular success in a long series of leadership roles – as executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, President of the Louisiana State University System (at the ludicrously young age of 26!), Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (unanimously confirmed – and praised – in a bipartisan vote of the US Senate), and two terms in the House of Representatives (including service on the House Committee on Homeland Security and re-election with 88% of the vote). Nothing in the Obama resume comes close to any of this. It’s true that I started promoting Jindal for Veep on my radio show nearly a year ago (before he even won election as governor) and, frankly, I don’t see serious negatives to his candidacy.

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CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW