This is just my opinion and it goes directly against an article I wrote on my blog June 7th entitled Why McCain Needs Huckabee. Where I made an empassioned plea for McCain to take Huckabee as his VP. However during a conversation with some Romney supporters yesterday I came to the conclusion that McCain would be better off not picking either one as VP. The reason for this is simple If he Picks Huckabee, Romney supporters will be furious and vice versa.
I think were down to Three choices Jindal, Palin and Pawlenty. Let’s go over the Pros and Cons of each starting with Jindal. However a friend of mine has suggested Rob Portman so I will included him here as well. This will be a series starting today with Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal the young charismatic governor of Louisana is a Rhodes Scholar. At 37 years of age he is the youngest governor in the U.S. Jindal barely meets the age requirement for executive office. However he is the first non-white governor to serve in Louisana since reconstruction. He is also the first Indian-American, and the second Asian-American governor in U.S. History. As Secretary of Louisana’s Department of Health he is credited with turning a four-hundred million dollar deficit into a two-hundred-twenty million dollar surplus.
Bobby Jindal also served as a congressman from 2004-2007. During his time as a Congressman he was given a 100% pro-life rating by the National Right to Life Commitee. He also voted to make the Patriot Act permanent and in favor of the Millitary Commissions Act. Jindal supports a constitutional admendment to outlaw flag burning, and has a A rating from the Gun owners of America. In 2006 Jindal sponsored a bill to lift the moratorium on off shore drilling. However he also led the Louisana delegation in earmarks and was 14th out of 435 overall.
Since taking office as Governor Bobby Jindal has passed sweeping ethics reform laws in Louisana. This legislation puts his State in the top five in legislative disclosure and first in executive disclosure, according to the governor.
Jindal does however have what could be a deal breaker. According to Mr. Jindal he and several other students preformed an emergency exorcism. While I’m not saying I don’t believe his story about the exorcism, I think there are many who wouldn’t and may even be scared off by the story. In 1994 Jindal wrote a story for the New Oxford Review, a Catholic Journal, where he told of coming face to face with Demonic possesion. Go here for the story.
Jindal has many pros, but I believe his cons will outweigh them. Jindal’s youth makes it very hard to choose him for VP while McCain is running against a man he is looking to portary as an inexperienced kid. Also Jindal’s fondest of earmarks he displayed in Congress won’t sit well with a man who as never requested one. That along with the exorcism story makes it unlikely he will be McCain’s choice.