Saturday, December 13, 2008

Jindal in 2016

D. R. Tucker at Human Events laments that Bobby Jindal has taken himself out of the running for the Republican nomination in 2012, remarking that it is "difficult to imagine Jindal losing."

Look, I think Jindal is the best thing going for the GOP. He's young, smart, attractive, and a person of color. But Tucker is just plain naive on several counts:

  1. To take yourself out of the running four years before an election means practically nothing. If circumstances change, Jindal could easily change his mind. In four years, people are going to have completely forgotten what Jindal said in 2008.
  2. For Jindal to take himself out of the running now is a politically smart thing to do. There is virtually no downside to it for him. If Obama is popular in four years, Jindal keeps his powder dry and goes for the open seat in 2016 (I can't believe I'm talking about what could happen in 2016!). If Obama is unpopular, Jindal is still there, all that much more attractive as a candidate because he is apparently unavailable. In politics, being unavailable makes you all that more attractive.
  3. My prediction (I feel the prophetic spirit coming upon me once again) is that Obama is very popular in 2012. One way or another, the Iraq situation is likely to be resolved, and the economy is bound to be better than it is now--and Obama will claim credit for it. That's the advantage of coming into office during an unpopular war and a bad economy: the baseline is so low, how can you fail?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Look, I grant you Pyush Jindal is a person of color - but he's still Republican. Are his policies going to change? No - do you think voters will vote for him because of his race/ethnic origin? Unlikely, and no one voted for Obama because of his color either.

This proposal is fine for you to do with as you will, but you seem to be playing the same game McCain did with Palin - some lame illogical idea that all those Hillary voters would vote for Palin because of gender, insulting to female voters at best.

It's not gender, it's not race, it's policy, projects and results - and the Republicans come up short on all fronts.

Martin Cothran said...

Bill,

I mentioned color, but I didn't say why I did, and you then proceeded to read things into it. The only reason I mentioned it is that it puts the lie to the idea that conservatives are somehow opposed to ethnic diversity.

And you might be careful about committing the Fallacy of Division in saying that because Jindal is a Republican he must therefore share all of the issues deficiencies of the Republican Party in general, which he does not.

Anonymous said...

I cannot believe that ANYONE, not even those with a known history of blind partisanship, would say that no one voted for Obama because of his skin color. If that statement is made, then it can also be said that no one voted against Obama because of his skin color.

Having said all that, my prediction is that not only will Obama be wildly unpopular in 2012, he won't even have both houses of Congress on his side by then. I believe that people will realize what a disaster leftist/liberal rule is, and the Republicans will take over at least one chamber of Congress in two years.

I also think that our country will suffer a major terrorist attack during Obama's presidency, either on our soil or on one of our major interests abroad, and it will be in large part because Obama has indicated that he'll pursue a doctrine of appeasement instead of confrontation. (Remember that if Obama had his way, Saddam would still be alive today). (Don't jump on me for predicting this, Joe Biden has already done so). When this happens, the citizenry will realize that the Republicans did a much better job of protecting them from attack and will blame Obama for making us less safe.

Obama was given a major pass by the press, which refused to vet him the way McCain and Palin were. He won't be able to escape such scrutiny as president. As more becomes known about him, people will realize what a mistake they made.

Geoffrey said...

"My prediction (I feel the prophetic spirit coming upon me once again) is that Obama is very popular in 2012. One way or another, the Iraq situation is likely to be resolved, and the economy is bound to be better than it is now--and Obama will claim credit for it. That's the advantage of coming into office during an unpopular war and a bad economy: the baseline is so low, how can you fail?"

Oh, you have no idea...

"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird; for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness." Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, 'A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,' so shall her plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her." And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! alas! thou great city, thou mighty city, Babylon! In one hour has thy judgment come." And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. "The fruit for which thy soul longed has gone from thee, and all thy dainties and thy splendor are lost to thee, never to be found again!" The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, "Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, bedecked with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste." And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?" And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! In one hour she has been laid waste. Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!" Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and shall be found no more; and the sound of harpers and minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters, shall be heard in thee no more; and a craftsman of any craft shall be found in thee no more; and the sound of the millstone shall be heard in thee no more; and the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall be heard in thee no more; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth" (Revelation 18:1-24 RSV).

I suspect this is much closer to an accurate portrayal of the near future of our nation.

Martin Cothran said...

Does his transition team know this?