First Indian-American Governor elected

[Coriolis]

In Louisiana of all places.

Republican Bobby Jindal, 36, will be the first nonwhite to hold the state's top spot since Reconstruction.
By Miguel Bustillo, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 21, 2007

Republican Bobby Jindal won election as Louisiana governor Saturday, setting a string of firsts and leaving no doubt that the state's voters strongly desire new leadership two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Jindal, 36, will be the nation's youngest sitting governor. The son of Indian immigrants, he will also be the first Indian American governor in U.S. history, and the first nonwhite to hold the job in Louisiana since Reconstruction.

The election of Jindal, who is a conservative, underscores the fast-fading fortunes of the Democratic Party in Louisiana after the hurricanes.

Under Louisiana's wide-open "jungle primary" format, Jindal had a chance Saturday to win the race outright if he could capture more than half the votes in a field of 12 candidates.

He did. With nearly all precincts counted, he held 54% of the vote.

The next closest competitor, Democrat Walter J. Boasso, had 18%. Independent John Georges had 14%; Democrat Foster Campbell had 13%.

It was Jindal's second try at the governorship. He was edged out in a runoff four years ago by Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who did not seek reelection. Her post-Katrina performance has drawn heated criticism. Jindal has been representing Louisiana's 1st Congressional District since 2004.

This time, Jindal's campaign felt more like a coronation than a contested race.

The rise of Jindal, educated at Brown and Oxford universities, also suggested that Louisianians, who have often elected quirky politicians from the backwoods and bayous, may now be seeking something different.

Jindal has made a few stylistic concessions to suit the electorate: For instance, he goes by Bobby, though his given name is Piyush.

Democrats make up about half of the 2.8 million registered voters in Louisiana, outnumbering Republicans by nearly 2 to 1. But the number of registered Democrats has dropped by nearly 57,000 since the 2005 hurricanes. Residents have criticized the state government, which is dominated by Democrats, as incompetent and corrupt.

Jindal capitalized on that sentiment, making the fight to root out Louisiana's corruption a central theme of his campaign. One of his commercials portrayed his Democratic rivals as crooked clowns with cash coming out of their pockets.

No prominent Democrat stepped in to challenge Jindal, leaving Boasso and Campbell to divvy up their party's vote and providing an opening for Georges, a wealthy independent.

In the end, Jindal's rivals all took hard shots at the front- runner.

Georges tried to argue that Jindal's academic accomplishments were unfitting for Louisiana, bragging that "John Georges is not an intellectual."

Yet on Saturday, Louisiana voters flocked to the Oxford guy.

Not comment as of yet, but the last part bolded for emphasis. Only in Louisana.

[Ma Deuce]

In Louisiana of all places.

Well, he is a socially-conservative Catholic...

[Patrick Degan]

In Louisiana of all places.

Well, he is a socially-conservative Catholic...

Usually his Catholicism, as well as his ethnicity, would have ensured his never getting the cracker-vote in the northern parishes, which is solidly-Protestant Bible-Belt Jesusstan territory. It will be interesting to review the statistics.

However, Louisiana's gotten a Bush loyalist in as governor, which means another four years of stagnation for the state at the time it needs dynamic and creative leadership. I also see this state wasting millions of dollars it doesn't have to spare defending loony-ass, patently unconstitutional laws in the courts which Bobby will happily sign when they reach his desk.

Essentially, it's back to the Mike Foster days for Louisiana.

[Commander 598]

I knew it! Assuming I bet on this way back when, which I may have, then someone owes me money...

The only I'll even notice his existence aside from the news is if he touches current hunting/fishing laws or anything involving Lake Bistineau.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Perhaps in the future, then, people trying to get elected to political office should not turn their own stupidity into a campaign asset.

[Flagg]

Perhaps in the future, then, people trying to get elected to political office should not turn their own stupidity into a campaign asset.

It usually works.

[Starglider]

Perhaps in the future, then, people trying to get elected to political office should not turn their own stupidity into a campaign asset.

Perhaps stupid-seeming politicians seem more trustworthy, in that they don't have the intelligence for guile. I can see that working with the rar-rar-go-America redneck crowd, along with their standard all-encompasing hate for intelligence, sophistication and elites (though of course the later is trivially easy to bypass with slick marketing, of the either 'look shiny celeb' or 'Bush is really a homely cowboy' sense).

[Glocksman]

However, Louisiana's gotten a Bush loyalist in as governor, which means another four years of stagnation for the state at the time it needs dynamic and creative leadership. I also see this state wasting millions of dollars it doesn't have to spare defending loony-ass, patently unconstitutional laws in the courts which Bobby will happily sign when they reach his desk.

Essentially, it's back to the Mike Foster days for Louisiana.

Don't the Democrats control the state legislature?
If they do, the problem is that the reactionary Democrats would pass bullshit looney laws (I'm assuming you're talking about the ten commandments and teaching creationism bullshit that the religious right are so fond of) and Jindal would sign them, while throwing obstacles in his path WRT any meaningful efforts at rooting out corruption.


And I thought Kentucky had corruption issues with its (Republican, btw) governor.

[Glocksman]

Also, if you're lucky, stagnation is all you'll get.
Here in Indiana we have Mitch Daniels as governor, and a more stalwart Bush loyalist you won't find.
He can be accused of many things, but 'stagnant' isn't one of them, what with his rush (heh!) to privatize many state services and lease off state assets (Indiana Toll Road) to private interests.

Stagnation sucks, but it beats retrogressing into a libertarian 'paradise', which is apparently what 'My Man Mitch' has in mind for Indiana.

[Patrick Degan]

However, Louisiana's gotten a Bush loyalist in as governor, which means another four years of stagnation for the state at the time it needs dynamic and creative leadership. I also see this state wasting millions of dollars it doesn't have to spare defending loony-ass, patently unconstitutional laws in the courts which Bobby will happily sign when they reach his desk.

Essentially, it's back to the Mike Foster days for Louisiana.

Don't the Democrats control the state legislature?
If they do, the problem is that the reactionary Democrats would pass bullshit looney laws (I'm assuming you're talking about the ten commandments and teaching creationism bullshit that the religious right are so fond of) and Jindal would sign them, while throwing obstacles in his path WRT any meaningful efforts at rooting out corruption.


And I thought Kentucky had corruption issues with its (Republican, btw) governor.

It's a bad combination all around. And frankly I don't see Jindal doing a lot to root out cronyism.

[Glocksman]

It's a bad combination all around. And frankly I don't see Jindal doing a lot to root out cronyism.

Well, maybe both Jindal and Daniels will surprise us and everything will turn out peachy.
Though with Mitch, I really doubt it as large scale privatization of government services hasn't exactly been a resounding success in the past and I doubt it'll work well in the future.

In fact the only things Daniels has done that I approve of would have come to pass with a Democratic governor in place; namely pushing for building Interstate 69 from Evansville to Indianapolis and signing the law (that had wide bipartisan support, btw) that reformed our CCW system to provide for granting lifetime carry licenses after paying a one time $100 fee.

Truth be told, I voted for Kernan in the last election, and he was the first Democrat I've supported for governor since I became old enough to vote back in 1985.


As far as Jindal is concerned, I don't know enough about LA poltics to comment other than to wish him luck in combating Louisiana's legendary political corruption.

[Ypoknons]

The NYTimes article is titled "In a Southern State, Immigrants’ Son Takes Over." This being the United States, I fail to see how that matters. Wouldn't it be clearer is just to say "Indian-American Man" or something?

[MKSheppard]

However, Louisiana's gotten a Bush loyalist in as governor, which means another four years of stagnation for the state at the time it needs dynamic and creative leadership.

You mean the kind of dynamic and creative leadership that Blanco gave you?

[Patrick Degan]

However, Louisiana's gotten a Bush loyalist in as governor, which means another four years of stagnation for the state at the time it needs dynamic and creative leadership.

You mean the kind of dynamic and creative leadership that Blanco gave you?

What she did give was lightyears beyond what Mike Foster would have given —if he could have been bothered to leave the duckblind or the law library at ULL long enough to care.