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Sometimes I wonder minorities who are socially conservative often try to overreach so as to compensate for their obvious ethnic background. Case in point, Michelle Malkin who sometimes seems to project intensely strong conservative values as if she is trying to disguise her Asian-American background in order to be accepted into the ranks of similar people who are traditionally white. I may be wrong because I merely have anecdotal evidence in form of Malkin and Jindal.
But would he really be the balance to McCain as they tout him to be? Not that Democrats would try but he could be easily painted as a Muslim given his looks and color of his skin. Remember, the Appalachia racists consider race as a primary factor in their voting decisions and overwhelmingly vote against Obama (not for Clinton, mind you). Would they vote for an Indian-American who might be considered more foreign than African-Americans? Or is the prejudice against blacks so strong that anyone but them is fine for such an electorate? Also, given McCain’s age and health, his vice-president is more likely to take over compared to Obama’s running mate (ignoring Clinton’s warning that Obama might be assassinated). Would the American voters or more specifically Clinton’s ‘working class white Americans’ be comfortable voting for McCain considering that an Indian-American who looks suspiciously like the 9/11 guys (not my way of thinking, mind you) might become President?
The ‘elite’ social conservatives might be able to look past Jindal’s background and go crazy for his ultra-conservative views but would their typical voter who isn’t exactly known to be intelligent be able to do that? Jindal might be ‘one of the family’ in the circles of social conservatives but in the varied voter preferences outside Louisiana, his views will lose more votes than gain any for McCain. The decline in support for evangelist and/or social conservative candidates (remember Brownback and Tancredo?) makes it almost a no-brainer for McCain. He is better off with a candidate aligned closely to his centrist image. Jamelle at United States of Jamerica advises GOP to keep Jindal in Louisiana for the sake of his political career:
The country seems to be in the midst of a Democratic realignment, and the last thing the Republicans want is for one of their rising stars to be sullied (in a big way) so early in his career. Instead of sending him to Minneapolis and sticking him next to McCain, the GOP should keep him in the Louisiana state house, and let him build his experience and his appeal.
Finally just to give you an idea of how out of touch these social conservatives are, check out the comment in support for state financing of private faith-based educational institutions in Jindal’s state:
“If in the end we get kids who can read and write, who cares whether they went to St. Aug or Brother Martin?” said Mr. LaBruzzo, naming two prominent parochial schools in New Orleans [source].
Mr.LaBruzzo, you would be right if it was enough to just ‘read and write’ but unfortunately, in today’s competitive global environment, you need more. And you wonder why jobs are leaving American shores. Thankfully not all states in these United States are thinking along similar lines.
by Patrix | on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 am | 
Current Affairs, Politicking . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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June 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm reply
Hey, thanks for the link!
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm reply
Either which way, I would be very surprised if Mc Cain comes close to any sort of victory this November. I think Jindal with his background has a classic story to tell about his faith and his view and all that crap. Not to mention, his “conversion” will appeal to conservatives.
BTW (I replied other place too ;), I do find your posts on politics very informative and engaging - my rant was against some other bloggers who write about politics and I ended up reading them.
Cheers
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:20 pm reply
Jamelle, you’re welcome.
Supremus, you can never count on the Democrats to pull it off. They are like the Indian cricket team - snatch defeat from the joys of victory. The silent majority’s inherent racist/discriminatory attitude that Clinton keeps alluding to may upset Obama’s chances.
Even with Jindal’s classic background tale, he still is brown to the eyes of many white folk. Remember that with Obama’s widely publicized pastor problem, he still is thought of as a Muslim by a significant proportion of the population.
And no problems about the other thing, re. Was just kidding but am glad you enjoy my political posts.