Name: Bobby Jindal Age: 36 Resume: Governor of Louisiana, former two-term congressman from the first district
Source of speculation: Bill Kristol’s column (“McCain-Jindal?”) in this morning’s New York Times. “In separate conversations last week,” writes Kristol, “no fewer than four McCain staffers and advisers mentioned as a possible vice-presidential pick the 36-year-old Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal. They’re tempted by the idea of picking someone so young, with real accomplishments and a strong reformist streak.”
Backstory: Late last month, McCain visited New Orleans as part of his tour of America’s “forgotten places”; while there, according to Kristol, he spent “considerable” time with Jindal and “reportedly found him, as he has before, personally engaging and intellectually impressive.” Shortly afterwards, “the campaign’s informal name-dropping of Jindal began.” As the Marc Ambinder points out, Kristol’s chronology suggests that several McCain staffers were impressed by Jindal and want to put some public pressure on McCain (who’s heading his own search) and the advisers assisting him. Their rationale? Numbers from the latest Fox News poll, in which McCain led Obama in the straight match-up, 46 to 43, but lost 41-47 when voters were asked to choose between a McCain-Romney ticket and an Obama-Clinton ticket. “That reversal of a three-point McCain lead to a six-point deficit for the McCain ticket suggests what might happen (a) when the Democrats unite, and (b) if McCain were to choose a conventional running mate, who, as it were, reinforced the Republican brand for the ticket,” writes Kristol. “As the McCain aide put it, this is what will happen if we run a traditional campaign; our numbers will gradually regress toward the (losing) generic Republican number.”
Odds: Low. Jindal may be the perfect choice to counterprogram Obama; he’s younger and (as the son of two immigrants, not just one) arguably more exotic, and would offer much-needed balance to a ticket headed by one of the oldest men, at 71, to ever try for the presidency. Plus, he’s pursued McCain’s major passion in office–government reform–while still managing to compile a record conservative enough to earn him plaudits from Rush Limbaugh as “the next Ronald Reagan.” In other words, Jindal would please the base while still preserving McCain’s maverick brand–and adding a dash of youthful vigor to boot. The problem? With only four years in Congress and four months as Louisiana governor, Jindal might have a tough time passing McCain’s “can you see him as president?” test–the candidate’s top criterion for picking a veep. “I’m aware of the enhanced importance of this issue given my age,” McCain told Don Imus in early April, and it’s hard to see how putting someone with a resume no longer than Obama’s a mere (septuagenarian’s) heartbeat from the Oval Office wouldn’t hinder the Republicans’ ability to attack the Illinois senator for his alleged “inexperience.” What’s more, Jindal is unlikely to help McCain electorally. Louisiana is already a deeply red state, and the moderate Republicans and Independents attracted to Obama’s post-partisan message and post-racial persona–i.e., the moderates who might see Jindal as an incentive to stick with McCain–would probably see the governor’s right-wing record (opposes abortion without exceptions for life, health, rape or incest; opposes embryonic stem cell research; supports teaching intelligent design in public schools; supports off-shore oil drilling; has an A rating from the Gun Owners of America; votes with the Republican Caucus 97 percent of the time) as a bit of a turn-off.
Still, if McCain is swayed by atmospherics–and his excited staffers–rather than practicalities, it could happen. Remember Dan Quayle?
