Louisiana elects Jindal governor

[Phil_Stein]

I wasn't following this race at all, but stumbled across this article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_po/louisiana_governor;_ylt=AvsQCf2mjf_wVFTr55TTFm8E1v AI).

The son of Indian immigrants easily wins election as governor of Louisiana.

I don't know the specifics of the election, beyond what the story details, but it's pretty cool that Jindal could win in Louisiana, which as recently as 1990 and 1991 cast large numbers of votes for David Duke.

[TheWombat]

Yeah, I was listening to some NPR broadcast a while back and that was the first I'd heard of this fellow. Seems to have a really good rapport with the voters, though. Of course, part of that is due to the wretched job his predecessor did during Katrina--apparently, there were all sorts of folks saying they wished they had their votes back after voting for the previous governor.

I wasn't following this race at all, but stumbled across this article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_po/louisiana_governor;_ylt=AvsQCf2mjf_wVFTr55TTFm8E1v AI).

The son of Indian immigrants easily wins election as governor of Louisiana.

I don't know the specifics of the election, beyond what the story details, but it's pretty cool that Jindal could win in Louisiana, which as recently as 1990 and 1991 cast large numbers of votes for David Duke.

[Jason McCullough]

Looks like the non-Republican vote was a roughly even three-way split across two Democrats and an independent, and combined 14% short.

It sounds like (http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1192603322244350.xml&coll=1) it's a combination of unknown levels of the very Democratic population of New Orleans getting scattered out of state across the south, general disgust with the mostly-democratic leadership, and an enormous jump in independents.

Yeah, in light of the Duke thing it's encouraging.

[JeffL]

Looks like the non-Republican vote was a roughly even three-way split across two Democrats and an independent, and combined 14% short.

It sounds like (http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1192603322244350.xml&coll=1) it's a combination of unknown levels of the very Democratic population of New Orleans getting scattered out of state across the south, general disgust with the mostly-democratic leadership, and an enormous jump in independents.

Yeah, in light of the Duke thing it's encouraging.

So, this Indian was the Republican candidate?

[Ryan A]

So, this Indian was the Republican candidate?

I liked Phil's phrasing better. This guy's an American.

[Anti-Bunny]

So, this Indian was the Republican candidate?
Yes.

Duke was even working as advisor to Roy Armstrong, who was running against him for the Republican ticket.

Though, honestly, My Cynical Side tells me this is just another step in Cheney's bid to take over Louisiana, starting with destroying/ethically cleansing the democrat voting block in New Orleans.

[TheWombat]

Future events will of course tell, but I'd not be too concerned with the Republican label here--given the disaster that the Democratic Party has become in much of Louisiana politics, it isn't surprising that someone new would not jump into that snake pit. And politics in the South is always a bit weird anyhow.

[JeffL]

I liked Phil's phrasing better. This guy's an American.

Sorry. Indian-American. My PC is not always on high. ;)

[JeffL]

Future events will of course tell, but I'd not be too concerned with the Republican label here--given the disaster that the Democratic Party has become in much of Louisiana politics, it isn't surprising that someone new would not jump into that snake pit. And politics in the South is always a bit weird anyhow.

And politics in Louisiana is just weird anyway. Makes Chicago politics look clean and tidy. ;)

[Nick Walter]

I'm not following something about this thread. Why is there such an attempt to explain away or somehow apologize for this guy being a Republican?

[Dirt]

I wasn't following this race at all, but stumbled across this article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_po/louisiana_governor;_ylt=AvsQCf2mjf_wVFTr55TTFm8E1v AI).

The son of Indian immigrants easily wins election as governor of Louisiana.

I don't know the specifics of the election, beyond what the story details, but it's pretty cool that Jindal could win in Louisiana, which as recently as 1990 and 1991 cast large numbers of votes for David Duke.
Jindal is a black Indian?

[JeffL]

I'm not following something about this thread. Why is there such an attempt to explain away or somehow apologize for this guy being a Republican?

I don't understand that either - my question was pretty simple, I'd heard that he won but didn't know if he was Republican or Democrat.

Louisiana has been a pretty Democrat-heavy state in the past. But their politics and politicians in general tend to not be the kind of people either party wants to spotlight - they're just a wee bit on the wacko side as a rule.

[Nick Walter]

I don't understand that either - my question was pretty simple, I'd heard that he won but didn't know if he was Republican or Democrat.


Oh, perhaps I was reading too much into the thread then. I took your post as an expression of disbelief, not a straightforward query.

[BennyProfane]

Actually, the couple of quotes I've seen from his own mouth thus far sound pretty conservative to me. I'll reserve judgement for now, but I have a feeling he might really be a Republican, not just a "somebody from the opposite party from those idiots we had to deal with before" candidate.

[Lum]

Hm, I had always thought he was a technocrat but Wikipedia's listing of his positions has him as a down-the-line social conservative. Pity.

Still, hopefully he can start to clean up the Louisiana political morass, although given how long it took to get to that state let's not expect him to sweep the Augean stables overnight.

[JeffL]

Hm, I had always thought he was a technocrat but Wikipedia's listing of his positions has him as a down-the-line social conservative. Pity.

Still, hopefully he can start to clean up the Louisiana political morass, although given how long it took to get to that state let's not expect him to sweep the Augean stables overnight.

I think that cleaning up the Louisiana political morass is about as likely as turning New Orleans into a family oriented fun park. It's tradition.