The Story
Bobby vs. Barry
I know that, as a liberal, I should still be drooling with glee after the first election I’ve voted in. My political awareness began with Lewinsky, so my whole life it seems that the only person in office is corrupt, has terrible policies that might destroy the country, or both; so maybe I’m on edge because it seems too good to be true.
It also might be that I’ve been addicted to MSNBC since a month before Iowa, and, without an election going on, I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. In any case, I still can’t help but think of the prospects of 2012 now that the only pool of candidates worth noting is on the other side of the aisle.
Now, the name in peoples’ heads right now seems to be Sarah Palin, but she’s only still in the news because she’s denying reports that she’s obsessed with clothes and trying to prove that she knows Africa is a continent, not a country.
Nobody really takes Sarah Palin seriously, and I doubt four years would change that.
Now part of this sentiment is, I admit, sexist. But looking identical to Tina Fey was a nail in her coffin before she even thought of accepting the Vice Presidential nomination. The fact that so many people easily accept (or even fathom) half the misinformation Palin spewed or didn’t spew, is proof of Saturday Night Live’s continued political might.
Now that that’s out of our systems, I’d like to introduce non-politicos to Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana.
Jindal was elected at the age of 36 in 2007, making him the youngest governor in our country. He ran on a platform of reforming the state after Katrina and ending the incredibly corrupt politics of his state.
Louisiana was number 46 in the Better Government Association’s ethics ranking in 2002. Today, it’s number 5. To put that into perspective, Sarah Palin’s oft-touted but oft-denied claim of “ruffling feathers” and ending corruption was recently met with a ranking of 40 by the BGA.
Jindal’s other issue, Katrina, was somewhat personal; he was the Representative of New Orleans’s district when the levees broke. He wrote an article slamming the federal government under Bush for their response to the hurricane, showing that he’s willing to criticize his party instead of using his position to be another Republican sheep.
As for conservative credentials, the National Right to Life Committee gave Jindal a rating of 100% for his pro-life views. He opposes gay marriage and believes intelligent design should be taught in schools.
This is a gigantic red flag for me, but the last eight years have shown not every American agrees with my views.
But the biggest reason our President-Elect should be worried about a second term is that Bobby Jindal, to be blunt, is Barack Obama on steroids.
Obama’s 47 years of age? I’ll raise you 41, Jindal’s age in 2012.
Obama’s an outsider? Jindal left Washington to become a governor and roundly critiqued the Beltway while he was a Representative.
Obama went to Harvard? Jindal was a Rhodes Scholar and turned down both Yale Law School and Harvard Medical School.
Barack Obama’s name is Barack Obama and his father’s Kenyan? ‘Bobby’ is short for Piyush, and his father (and mother for that matter) is from Punjab, India.
Barack Obama’s election has opened the doors for more than just African-Americans. If we’re willing to vote for a black guy who’s still considered to be by many a covert Muslim (he’s not, but it shouldn’t matter if he was) then I’m sure we’re ready for an Indian-American whose opponents in the primaries will call him a Hindu (he converted to Catholicism in high school, but again, it shouldn’t matter if he was.)
The reason I say his opponents in the primaries would bring it up is because Republicans have always been the squad of de-Americanization, and if you need more proof look up the French John Kerry.
Plus, I doubt Obama supporters would make any sort of fuss about Jindal’s race.
And now that the matter of race is cleared, Jindal’s actual character and record is what really counts to voters. I totally disagree with half his views, but I can’t help but be proud of a country where it’s not beyond the realm of possibility for 2012 to have no white candidates.
So stay on your toes, Barry O.
Don’t start thinking that just because we’ve given you a mandate in the form of 365 electoral votes (one for every day in the year) that you’ll sweep on by in the next election. The Republican Party is a sad and broken heap right now, but Bobby Jindal may provide change they can believe in.
Jay Lyon is a DSJ Staff Columnist. His views do not necessarily represent those of the entire staff.