Brown Is The New Black
Indians are not what you would think of when you hear Louisiana. In the entire state of Louisiana (with a population of about 4.5 million) there are only about 11,000 Indian Americans making up a mere 0.24% of Louisiana’s population. Despite these rough odds, Bobby Jindal was the Indian-America to win a gubernational election, winning it in 2006.
2005 was a turbulent time, especially in Louisiana. Katrina had just torn its way through, 30% of New Orleans citizens lived in poverty. The Bush administration had been nationally criticised for its slow reaction time and its unwillingness to work with FEMA. A new Republican senator narrowly won an election after 2 Democratic candidates split the liberal vote just last year. Strange enough a young Indian man, who had previously lost the 2003 gubernational election to a democrat, in what would seem like an increasingly Republican-critical state in an increasingly Republican era (Bush’s second term was not overly popular), won the election. Furthermore, Jindal worked closely in the presidential cabinet, working there for 2 years after being appointed by the increasingly unpopular President Bush. This unlikely recipe for Republican victory was only won by the perceived need for change in Louisiana as Democrat Governor Blanco received even more blame than Bush for the slow reaction following Katrina. The people of Louisiana looked for change in the most unlikely of places, the Republican party.
Flash forward to 2015. Jindal isn’t included in most major Republican polls. But why is he in the news so much? Because he brings something the Republican party desperately needs. Diversity. Republicans are trying to bring in the Hispanic vote with Marco Rubio. The Black vote with Ben Carson. The female vote with Carly Fiorina. And the Indian vote with Bobby Jindal. America wants diversity after 42 white male Presidents. That is why they looked to Obama in 2008. That is why they will look to Clinton in 2016.
Bobby Jindal’s eclectic mix of political opinions poses many questions too. He is in staunch opposition to illegal aliens and supports the building of a wall between the United States and Mexico. Unlike his conservative racial minority counterpart, Marco Rubio, he is against the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act has been slammed by Republicans since its introduction by President Obama in 2012. The DREAM Act could potentially bring in the masses of Hispanics the Republican party has been salivating about for decades. His strong anti-immigration sentiments are unusual for a minority citizen who is a second generation immigrant.
Bobby Jindal also opposes same sex marriage, which is a hot button issue in Louisiana and the nation. Bobby Jindal recently stated, as the Governor, that he supported an act put forward in the Louisiana House of Representatives that banned the government from revoking licenses from establishments that refuses to serve homosexuals. That act was eventually shot down by a bipartisan alliance.
Jindal’s opinion of government healthcare is probably most complex. While he does support government healthcare, he does not support it at a federal level. While Governor of Louisiana, Louisiana provided care for a further 11,000 children. While against the affordable healthcare act, Jindal urges other states to provide healthcare to the uninsured at the state level. Jindal is quoted saying, “Every Republican says they want to get rid Obamacare.”
Bobby Jindal is separated from most conservatives by stating that he is, in fact, in support of medical marijuana. In January 2014 he stated he would support the use of medical marijuana “if there is a legitimate medical need.” Granted, this was before he started campaigning for the Presidency, this does shine light onto this growing issue in America.
Even though Bobby Jindal’s polls are 14th out of the 16 GOP candidates polled in a Bloomberg Politics poll. Only 1% of pollers put Jindal as their first choice for a 2016 Republican presidential candidate. Despite this, Jindal is confident and addressed his low polling numbers on ABC’s ‘This Week’ he confidently stated “I think voters want a big change.” Change is what voters would be getting by voting in the first non-White Republican President.
The GOP is in a tug of war between 2 groups. Ageing, baby boomers who have, since the Reagan presidency, supported the GOP, and a group of new idealists who want to reinvent the Republican party so it will be sustainable in the future bringing in votes from growing demographics, most notably the lucrative Hispanic population. In terms of 2016 on the baby boomer side are Santorum, Paul, and Huckabee, and on the other side is Jindal, Rubio, and Cruz. Bobby Jindal probably won’t be the next America president, but does pose the question of what the future of the GOP will be.
