Is Jindal waiting for his below 1% support to fall to negative territory?
By Raif Karerat
Bobby Jindal, the first Indian American to be elected a state governor and current presidential hopeful, has dipped below 1 percent according to the latest polls, which could indicate an untimely campaign exit for the Louisiana politician.
In two leading national opinion polls, CNN/ORC and NBC/Wall Street Journal, Jindal’s popularity slipped to such abysmal levels that many political pundits are agreed his aspirations for a run at the White House may be at an end — at least as far as the 2016 election is concerned.
Considering real estate mogul Donald Trump’s commanding lead at the head of the GOP’s pack of presidential candidates, such a scenario seems likely, but the 44-year-old two-term governor bluntly stated he is not giving up so easily, according to the Press Trust of India.
A noticeable pitfall of Jindal’s campaign have been his gaffes regarding the Indian American community, which resulted in a firestorm of criticism and mockery throughout social media outlets stoked by famous Indian American comedians such as Aasif Mandvi and Hari Kondabolu.
One of the biggest issues Indian origin voters were taking with Jindal was that he seemed to want to renounce his Indian origins altogether. His comments on “hyphenated Americans†in which he stated there should be none — only Americans, plain and simple — alienated many who are proud of their heritage, and the #BobbyJindalIsSoWhite hashtag subsequently exploded on Twitter.
Trump currently leads the Republican pack with a 27 percent approval rating, followed by Ben Carson who has made a recent resurgence with 22 percent, numbers that do not bode well for the ever-obstinate Jindal.
Arguing that Trump will be the candidate to eventually wilt, Jindal stated, “His numbers are already starting to fall in Iowa,†according to PTI.
Following his disappointing presidential campaign, Jindal may be better served focusing on his home state during the final stretch of his term, where he has been at war with many of his erstwhile allies within the business community and legislature in the midst of what the Washington Post called “Louisiana’s worst budget crisis in 25 years.â€