May

8

Earlier this week, Bill Kristol, a New York Times columnist and conservative commentator, broached the topic of Bobby Jindal as a potential vice-presidential nominee for the republican party, for this November’s presidential elections.

He is charismatic, charming, intelligent and very, very popular with his base. Conservative commentators have called him the next Ronald Reagan. And no matter which side of the ideological divide he stands on, it remains an undeniable fact, that Bobby Jindal has opened up the doors of American politics for the younger generation of Indian-Americans.

But here are my top ten guesses as to why he will not be the on the republican VP spot.

1. Over the last few months, late night comedians have had a blast with tons of jokes every night, about John Mccain’s age (he is 71). Choosing 36-year old Bobby Jindal as his number two, will make John Mccain the first presidential nominee who would be twice as old as his vice-presidential nominee. Choosing Jindal helps Mccain play to the current momentum of change, but it is still not enough to override Obama’s change message.

2. Jindal, while quite popular with the conservative wing of the party, is quite at odds with John Mccain’s moderate stand on many issues that divide americans on ideological lines (Jindal is opposed to abortion under any circumstance, opposes Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, etc).

3. There is a thought that Indian-American Jindal would make for a good counter aginst the African-American Obama, the other party’s presidential nominee. But choosing Jindal for his brown skin does not give John Mccain any advantage except that of having made a symbolic gesture. The American political arena is too unprepared for a brown vs black battle just yet.

4. Obama’s African ancestry gives him over 90% of the black vote in the coming elections. Jindal’s Indian ancestry is of little use in that regard. Indians will not be flocking to the republican party to vote for the Mccain-Jindal ticket.

5. By putting Bobby Jindal on the ticket, John Mccain can probably find a way to the deep pockets of Indian Americans, but as a group, Indian Americans aren’t known to contribute as much to the US presidential elections.

6. The US Vice-president is considered to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Considering John Mccain’s age and his prior fight with cancer, America is not ready yet for a 36-year old Indian-American as a potential commander-in-chief who can take over, just in case.

7. If Mccain needed to counter Obama’s race advantage, he has a choice to choose someone like Colin Powell or Condoleeza Rice, people who can share votes from Obama’s African-American base.

8. Louisiana, Jindal’s state, is expected to vote republican, anyways. By choosing Jindal, Mccain does not gain any advantage that he could get by choosing someone from a swing-state or a highly contested state that could make or break the election for him.

9. Jindal’s represents the conservative wing of his party, a group that will not be supporting Obama no matter what. Though there is a concern that some conservatives will stay home and not vote for Mccain in the November elections, Mccain has already managed to bridge a few divides on that front.

10. Had Jindal already had some more time to rebuild and reconstruct his state after the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, he would have had a much stronger case for the VP spot. In another few years, Jindal could and probably will make that case, but it won’t be this year. It will be year 2012, and Bobby Jindal will then be a truly formidable candidate to represent the republican party.


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3 Comments so far

  1. Will Bobby be a VP nominee? | DesiPundit on May 8, 2008 6:56 pm

    [...] lists out ten reasons why, contrary to news reports, John McCain will not pick Bobby Jindal as his VP nominee.   He makes some interesting points. 4. Obama’s African ancestry [...]

  2. Prashanth on May 9, 2008 2:22 am

    Points 4 and 5 dont count, as a vast chunk of Indian-Americans do not think much of Jindal anyways. And I’m sure McCain or his advisors would be smart enough to have figured that out.
    On the other hand, Jindal’s ability to make inroads amongst staunch conservatives, might be one reason why McCain might even remotely consider him.
    But overall, I dont think Jindal stands a chance…or at least I hope he doesn’t.

  3. chris on June 22, 2008 9:37 pm

    These are the ten weakess arguments…..JIndal not qualify to be president if Mccain died? Jindal has more executive and governing experience in his 37 years then Obama has in his 46 years….how will that make him less qualified. If Obama is qualified with less experience then Jindal to be running for the presidency then Jindal has more then enought experience to be VP. I find the all out attacks from the liberals on Jindal to be a sign that He is Indeed the right VP candidate for Mccain…..why else would he be the #1 target of attacks?

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