Or maybe not, to run that is.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal turns 44 next Wednesday, on June 10th. He will likely cut a bigger cake two weeks later though, on June 24th, when he will announce his White House aspirations.
It’s not completely confirmed that Jindal, a Rhodes scholar, will run for President. But what is now known is that Jindal, one of the most prominent far right politicians in the GOP, will announce his decision in New Orleans, on June 24th, according to Timmy Teepell, a past chief of staff for Jindal.
Jindal, who was re-elected as governor of Louisiana in a landslide, in 2011, after he won in 2007, is a former US congressman, and has plenty of administrative experience, both at the state and federal level.
Jindal has served as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, been president of the University of Louisiana System, and in 2001, he was appointed as the principal adviser to Tommy Thompson, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, by president George W. Bush.
Politico, who first reported Jindal’s upcoming move on June 24th, said: “The two-term governor, a former congressman who is considered a long-shot contender for the GOP nomination, has faced a spate of negative headlines in recent months about his state’s budget problems. But with Louisiana’s legislative session scheduled to end in June, Jindal will be freed up to hit the campaign trail more frequently and his positioning as an unapologetic cultural conservative could gain him an audience in early states like Iowa where the Republican base is more socially conservative.”
Jindal may have an easier time convincing his Tea Party supporters and campaigners of his far right positions, especially on creationism, being anti-gay, and anti-abortion than in building bridges with the rest of the country. Liberal voters especially will see him as an impossible candidate to even think of.
Read a previous story on why Jindal will find the going tough if he runs for president:
However, if and indeed Jindal does decide to run for president, he will again go down in history for being the first Indian American to do so. He already has the distinction for being the first Indian American to become Governor.