No lie. Boy this party is in more trouble than I thought. Now that the bloom is off of the Sarah Palin rose, apparently GOP movers and shakers are ready to gamble on the governor of Louisiana. Must be that whole diversity thing nagging at them. Sorry pals, he’s still a fundie.
Like the president-elect, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is young (37), accomplished (a Rhodes scholar) and, as the son of Indian immigrants, someone familiar with breaking racial and cultural barriers. He came to Iowa to deliver a pair of speeches, and his mere presence ignited talk that the 2012 presidential campaign has begun here, if coyly. Already, a fierce fight is looming between him and other Republicans—former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who arrived in Iowa a couple of days before him, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is said to be coming at some point—for the hearts of social conservatives.
..."The Republicans really have no choice except to look at some people more youthful if they want to have a better chance of winning,” said Betty E. Johnson, an independent and the wife of a Cedar Rapids pastor, who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 but who went for Obama over 72-year-old John McCain. “I liked Obama’s energy and hope. I don’t know, but maybe a younger person would give Republicans a feeling of more energy, openness.”
Exactly—a feeling of more openness. It takes more than being born in the last half of the century to actually project a nod to diversity and openness, but whatever, the GOP is all about imagery and imagination rather than reality. Look at the sea of pale old folks who attended its convention. But I guess fronting is about as good as the Republicans can do.
....Meanwhile, others around the country were talking him up. No less an aspiring kingmaker than Steve Schmidt, the chief strategist of McCain’s failed presidential bid, sees Jindal as the Republican Party’s destiny. “The question is not whether he’ll be president, but when he’ll be president, because he will be elected someday.” The anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist believes, too, that Jindal is a certainty to occupy the White House, and conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has described him as “the next Ronald Reagan.”
..."If anything, McCain’s candidacy suggests that age is not always a positive—and sometimes is a negative,” Norquist says. “As Republicans, you have a real problem now with younger voters and immigrants. If you were going to central casting for a candidate to deal with all that, who do you have? Jindal. He is young, and he looks young. . . . He’s a great communicator. And his record is that he’s sharp and quick with policy.”
Jindal supporters regularly evoke the Reagan parallel, fueled by a confidence that their hero’s brand of social and fiscal conservatism, coupled with his sunny folksiness on the stump, can rekindle the Reagan flame.
Wait—Reagan!? I thought that Sarah Palin was the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan, according to his son Michael:
Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my Dad reborn; only this time he’s a she...Welcome back, Dad, even if you’re wearing a dress and bearing children this time around.
Anyway, this bit of business below the fold is the nugget to pay attention to…