Presidential Elections and the Bayou State!

Thursday, January 5th, 2012
New Orleans, Louisiana

LOUISIANA AND PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

Governor Mitt Romney’s Iowa caucus victory this week drew nothing more than a few yawns down in Louisiana. For several reasons. First, presidential politics is not a front burner issue right now. For many Louisianans, there are more important priorities. LSU is playing for the national championship down in New Orleans, and the Saints are making a viable run toward another Super Bowl. It’s still duck and deer season, and Mardi Gras is just around the corner. But the main reason that folks in the Bayou State can’t get excited over Romney is because, as far as they know, he has not stepped a foot in the state. Romney seems to be well on his way to winning the Republican presidential nomination, and once again, Louisiana will be left on the side of the road.

Neighboring governor Rick Perry initially looked like “the man” to Louisiana politicos who gave any early attention to the presidential race. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal jumped into the Perry campaign with both feet, making a number of stops alongside the Texas governor. On paper, Perry looked pretty good to a number of Louisiana voters. The state has become more conservative in recent years, and is a cinch to stay in the republican column. Perry has been strongly supportive on the oil and gas issues that ring so well in Louisiana, where similar interests are shared. His positions on social issues make Tea Partiers and evangelicals jump for joy. But then his “oops” moment came, and he seemed to dig that hole deeper every time he opened his mouth. As a national candidate, Perry’s toast. He’s crashed and burned, and he’ll soon be out of the race.

Louisiana had a chance to be every bit as relevant in the presidential mix as was Iowa. It was the only state to have a major statewide election less than two months before the Iowa caucus. A few creative minds in the state suggested a “beauty contest.” Why not allow any of the presidential candidates to file and put their name on the Louisiana gubernatorial ballot, to give voters a chance to express their initial choice for president? The vote would be non-binding as far as picking delegates. But any serious presidential candidate could not afford to ignore the state. There would have been numerous campaign stops and media buys that would have been a boon to Louisiana. Perry particularly would have benefited, and Governor Jindal could have scored points for Perry and himself as they traveled the Bayou State campaigning. But Louisiana has never been on the cutting edge of looking out for itself, and true to form, the idea was ignored by legislators.

Some local political observers are saying that Jindal made a big mistake endorsing Perry, and that he’s hurt his chances for a national political move. But there just might be a method to Jindal’s perceived madness. Jindal knew well he was not the strongest candidate for joining the eventual nominee as a vice presidential candidate. Louisiana brings nothing politically to a national ticket. It’s not a “swing state” like either Florida or Ohio. And if Jindal’s heritage is a consideration, Hispanics far outweigh Indian Americans. That’s why we hear names like Sen. Marco Rubio, a Hispanic from Florida, and Governor Bob Portman from Ohio. Both are fairly new to office, and considered lightweights in the arena of governing, but you’ve got to get elected before you can run the country. And if Romney does get the nomination, as it seems he will, South Carolina’s popular Governor Nikki Haley would be a possible VP choice. She’s also an Indian American and she’s endorsed Romney, giving his campaign a big boost for the all important South Carolina republican primary in two weeks. So Jindal is realistically out of the picture as a serious candidate as part of a republican ticket.

Jindal has two future political choices, and his decision will no doubt be made based on who is elected president. If President Obama is re-elected, then there is a wide open opportunity for a Jindal presidential bid in four years. The Romneys, Pauls and Gingrichs of this campaign season will be older, and the party will be yearning for younger blood. In four years, Jindal will be winding down his second term as governor as the new campaign season approaches. The timing could not work better for him. And that’s where the Perry endorsement brings big dividends. The big bucks for national office are in Texas. Perry owes Jindal big-time, and is certain to return the favor by helping to raise big campaign bucks. So Jindal’s presidential bid, who some in Louisiana feel is his obsession, will receive bountiful benefits from the timing, and Jindal’s ability to “cash in” on all his campaign stops on behalf of number of other republican office holders around the country.

But what happens if Romney defeats Obama, which is certainly a strong possibility? Jindal won’t just wait around for four years without a base. We all know how quickly voters forget. He needs a platform. And he can gain such by taking on Louisiana incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu, whose term is up for renewal in 2014. Jindal will still be governor in a strong republican state and will be running against a democrat who has a good bit of baggage. It’s a lousy time to be a longtime serving incumbent, particularly in a red state when you are a mainstream democrat. Obama care, not returning home all that often, and a poor record of nominating federal judges, just for beginners, will be a few of the many issues that will be thrown back at Landrieu. When the Republicans smell the blood, Jindal will have the first right of refusal to take on the lady. So Louisiana voters won’t have to wait long. Jindal’s future plans will no doubt be decided in the election this November.
v. Rick Perry, Sen. Mary Landrieu, Louisiana Politics, Pres
Back to Mitt Romney. He barely won in Iowa, nudging Rick Sanatorium by a mere 8 votes. As my friend Andy Borowitz observed, the last time so few people decided a Presidential race they were all on the Supreme Court. But Romney wasn’t supposed to do all that well in Iowa. He now has solid momentum moving into New Hampshire for next week’s primary where he should win big. And the campaign contributions just keep rolling in at a pace far ahead of the all the other candidates combined. I was in New York several weeks ago where a friend invited me to be his guest at a Romney fundraiser. The former Massachusetts governor raised $10.5 million at that event, and this was just one of a series of such events Romney had scheduled on that day alone.

So we’re talking about a barn burner of a presidential race, a Louisiana governor anxious to move on to what he perceives to be bigger and better offices, and possible BCS and Super Bowl championships. Add to this gumbo a hint of “throw me somethin’ mister,” soon to be in the air and you have to ask -- Is 2012 going to be a great year or what?
*****
“When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it” ~Clarence Darrow

Peace and Justice.

Jim Brown

s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the South and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

Gov. Rick Perry-All Hat and No Cattle?

Tuesday, August 23nd, 2011
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

RUNNING FOR THE WHITE HOUSE-
IS IT “GOVERNOR IN CHIEF?”

How much more bleak can the mood of the country get? Several new polls out this week show that only 15% of likely voters in next year’s presidential election say the U.S. is heading in the right direction. According to the Rasmussen Reports national survey, that’s down 10 points from a month ago, and 20 points from just a year ago. You would assume Washington would be abuzz with a consuming congress and White House trying to find some way out of a hole that continues to deepen each month.

Yet the President seems a bit less than concerned, spending 10 days on Martha’s Vineyard with the rich and famous. Oh, he’s supposedly on a “working vacation,” and it may be “perception,” but it looks bad. In politics, perception quickly becomes reality. Congress, too, is on a break. With Democrats and Republicans in a stalemate, the urgency for a solution to the economic stagnation continues to grow as mindful action on the country’s financial health is nowhere to be found.

The Wall Street Journal, certainly a strong Republican mouthpiece, commented that Republicans are “desperate” for a candidate to emerge with practical economic solutions, and, according to the Journal’s editorial page, if “the current field isn’t up to that, perhaps someone still off the field will step in and run.” As E.J. Dionne wrote in a Washington Post column last week, “having the Journal’s editorial page criticize the Republican presidential crop is like having Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, fret over the quality of cardinals who want to be the next pope.”

Enter Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the new flavor of the month, and our neighbor next to my home state of Louisiana. Perry is the perfect fit for the Texas cowboy gunslinger who “shoots first” and delves into the details later. And give the guy credit. He says he shot a coyote that was attacking his dog as he was out for a morning jog. No photos of the coyote though, and some folks say it was really a rat. By the way, where do you carry you six gun when you are in jogging shorts?

Perry brags, with some justification, that 37% of all jobs created in the U.S. during the past 2 ½ years were created in Texas. But he’s fuzzy on the details of just what policies he had in place to create these new jobs.

A major source of the new jobs was the increase in the price of oil. Higher prices mean more jobs in production and distribution. Oil prices are five times higher today than when Perry first took office. But government has no say in the economics of this job source. A major increase in military spending throughout numerous military installations in Texas is another source of the new jobs that Perry claims for himself. From Lyndon Johnson to George Bush and Dick Cheney (remember Halliburton?), Texas has been treated quite well out of Washington, re military spending.

And how about drug money? Middle and upper class Mexicans, reports the New York Magazine, are flooding into Texas, bringing their savings and businesses with them. According to the DEA, the magazine reports, “drug traffickers are cleaning up their proceeds by buying businesses in South Texas. They also spend on guns, warehouses, security guards, luxury cars and houses. In San Antonio, a high-dollar drug trafficker can buy a $2 million or $3 million place and exist for a long time.” Lots of jobs coming to Texas this way?

Low taxes? Texas does not have a state income tax. But at what price? Texas has a less than a mediocre school system, and the lowest percentage of citizens who have health insurance in the nation. Many of the new jobs are for unskilled labor, and often, these jobs are merely diverted from another state. So this does little for higher national job growth. Texas is presently a little below the national average in unemployment, but Hispanic unemployment at 9.4% in Texas, is higher than the U.S figure of 9.2%. Texas, in fact, ties Mississippi for having the highest percentage of its population receiving minimum wages.

When it comes to injustice in the judicial system, don’t count on Gov. Rick to be a champion for the wrongly convicted. Texas is a hotbed for innocent citizens being falsely accused and convicted under Perry’s reign. One of the worst cases was that of Cameron Todd Willingham convicted of burning up his family. Following his conviction, mounting evidence surfaced that led any number of investigators to conclude that Willingham was in fact, innocent.

The Governor was unmoved and refused to halt his execution. Later, the Texas Forensic Science Commission hired investigators to review the case, who determined that "a finding of arson could not be sustained.” When the Commission agreed to reopen the Willingham case after the execution, Perry conveniently removed the Chairman and two other members to stop any further state investigation. The morbid joke around those closely following the case was that “it took nerve to execute an innocent man.”

Perry has spent his first week of his new campaign saying that “it’s time to get America back to work again. Great governor! But tell us how? What’s your plan? We are hoping that you are not all hat with no cattle.

So far, Perry seems to be running for Governor in Chief, not Commander in Chief. The nation is presently fighting three wars. Libya has drawn out to six months when it was supposed to be just weeks. There is no end in sight for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, although our primary foes there, Hussein and Bin Laden, are both long dead. Iran continues on a path of acquiring nuclear weapons, but not one word on these dangerous and volatile national defense issues.

The bottom line is this. The Governor of Texas is entitled to a little bit of time to lay out his plans for revitalizing the country. But whether he likes it or not, he will spend a great deal of time on the campaign trail answering for what he did, and what he failed to do as the state’s chief executive. And ole’ Ranger Rick has a lot of explaining to do.

*****
Take our politicians: they're a bunch of yo-yos. The presidency is now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with an encyclopedia of clichés the first prize. ~Saul Bellow

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the South. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.