Bobby Jindal in the eye of the storm(s)

Bobby Jindal will be President one day. He has been impressive for quite a while now, to people who were paying attention. Now the whole country will start paying attention.

Bobby Jindal will be President one day. He has been impressive for quite a while now, to people who were paying attention. Now the whole country will start paying attention.

Oooh, he demanded the resignation of a cabinet secretary held over from the previous administration. Wow. Boy, THAT takes political courage.

When he demands the resignation of some of the people who have been drinking his Koolaid, then I'll be impressed.

Rod, you need to come back home and spend some time down here. Boy wonder's national reputation in conservative circles is vastly overblown, especially by some of the folks over at NRO. One of the reasons he's so detail-minded is because half the folks he's hired in the Governor's office itself are young ideologues with almost zero experience in state government at all... and no, that's not a plus.

The last legislative session was an utter disaster, and the much-vaunted "ethics reforms" are partly mere window-dressing and partly ridiculous hassles on people interested in serving the public. Getting the multi-million dollar "economic development" boon-doggles still requires hiring the right people and courting the governor and his political operatives just right. He outright lied to both the public and to legislators regarding the infamous pay raise, and it's hardly an act of political courage to back down when faced with uniform public outrage and a 15% plummet in the polls in the space of about a week. He was too incompetent or duplicitous to tell the legislators to back off early on (they wouldn't have voted for it if he had warned them he might veto it), and then he failed to act decisively until after the controversy seriously damaged his polling positive rating.

Your commenter Ann is entirely wrong. He's only impressive to those who have not actually been paying much attention. Sadly, that category includes a lot of good conservatives who ought to know better.

Rod, have you seen the latest polls re: Palin's approval/disapproval? She's plummeting in the approval and skyrocketing in the disapproval.

Pssst... Can I have some of what you're smoking?

I'm still leary of Jindal's mental status, but let us give credit where credit is due. He's handled the weather problems much better than his predecessor.

EricW

Look at the polls on your #1. if you want to talk about plummenting/skyrocketing. The MSM hounds have been in full bay since the day McCainsprang her candidacy on a fluxmed chattering class, trying to provide cover for the Obama camp while they regroup.

Rod, have you seen the latest polls re: Palin's approval/disapproval?

This is a Bobby Jindal thread. Stop trying to troll it.

As Kate Alva said: If he hadn't gone to check on medical patients without a generator, you whiners would berate his lack of action and compassion. No matter what he does or doesn't do, you'll find fault with it. That's whacked.

The same thing happened with Bush and Katrina. Lots of people like to whine that Bush failed there, when in fact he followed all the usually- proper procedures, letting the mayor of N.O. look after his city unless he asked for help, let the governor look after her state unless she asked for help. But because he followed normal procedure, he was pilloried. When he went there, he was accused of grandstanding.

Jindal undoubtedly learned from that, better to be criticized for doing too much than not enough. Or maybe that is just his style. Hope so.

I listened to Jindal on wwl.com during the storm. I could not believe his mastery of a wide breadth of facts. He sounded like a most competent Deputy Agency Head on top of his game. He talked for 45 minutes straight without asking for any help on any issue from evacuees, flooding, transport, water, power, Nat'l. Guard, etc.

He is a most competent and intelligent individual. And he seems to be about getting the job done for the people. He never once said: "my administration" and I don't think he said "I" very much.

A great contrast with the "deer in the headlights" look of Blanco, the last and apparently least of a single party system. I don't mean to belittle the woman. I am sure she is not a bad person. But her party and its operatives were not up to the crisis of 2005. Thank God Jindal and others have learned the lesson Blanco taught us all. Of course it is the first lesson of a Boy Scout: Be Prepared.

Congrats Louisiana citizens. You have elected a superb Governor. If Governor Jindal does occupy the Whitehouse one day, I'll be stunned.

Jindal is doing a fine job. He shows us what we can do if we strive to work together rather than fight and bicker. But I think that if he had been there during Katrina, Bush and his Corney's would have done nothing different.

Jindal could make a fine president some day and maybe after he does two terms as Governor, I'll vote for him for president. Better him than some others I could name.

NotSaying said: One of the reasons he's so detail-minded is because half the folks he's hired in the Governor's office itself are young ideologues with almost zero experience in state government at all... and no, that's not a plus.

Sometimes "experience" is NOT what you want. Read what Dr. Sowell says about Amateurs Outdoing Professionals: http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell082008.php3