I've made no secret of my admiration for Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, a man who already has more relevant and credible experience to qualify him for the White House than does Barack Obama, a man a decade his senior. But I don't know that I like the talk of him being John McCain's choice for VP.

Another McCain staffer called my attention to this finding in the latest Fox News poll: McCain led Obama in the straight match-up, 46 to 43. Voters were then asked to choose between two tickets, McCain-Romney vs. Obama-Clinton. Obama-Clinton won 47 to 41.

That reversal of a three-point McCain lead to a six-point deficit for the McCain ticket suggests what might happen (a) when the Democrats unite, and (b) if McCain were to choose a conventional running mate, who, as it were, reinforced the Republican brand for the ticket. As the McCain aide put it, this is what will happen if we run a traditional campaign; our numbers will gradually regress toward the (losing) generic Republican number.

Maybe thatÂ’s why, in separate conversations last week, no fewer than four McCain staffers and advisers mentioned as a possible vice-presidential pick the 36-year-old Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal. TheyÂ’re tempted by the idea of picking someone so young, with real accomplishments and a strong reformist streak.

It might also be a way to confront the issue of McCain’s age (71), which private polls and focus groups suggest could be a real problem. A Jindal pick would implicitly acknowledge the questions and raise the ante. The message would be: “You want generational change? You can get it with McCain-Jindal — without risking a liberal and inexperienced Obama as commander in chief.” I would add that it was after McCain spent considerable time with Jindal in New Orleans recently, and reportedly found him, as he has before, personally engaging and intellectually impressive, that the campaign’s informal name-dropping of Jindal began.

Everything said about Gov. Jindal in this piece is accurate. However, I'd rather wait four years to see him on the national ticket, after he has successfully cleaned up the problems and corruption that piled up during decades of Democrat misrule in Louisiana. That state needs help -- and Bobby Jindal has made a great start towards fixing it. But with less than a year as governor to his credit, it seems like a place on the national ticket is coming a bit too early -- but I'd be fired up and ready to support him in the event of his selection.

But Jindal may be signaling his reluctance to sign on to the national ticket in today's Washington Times.

Posted by: Greg at 10:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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