My Christmas Wish
Surprisingly, it neither involves Halle Berry, nor Rachel Weisz, nor Beyonce
By Thomas Posted in 2007 — Comments (16) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
As an initial matter, a belated (or, depending on your perspective, tardy) Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to our readers. All of us at RedState wish you and yours a joyous Holy Day season, even the ones I'll end up banning before the morning of the 26th.
With that out of the way, and with the self-imposed wreckage of November behind us, I'd like to share my Christmas wish with all of you -- and it's actually something you can give me and yourselves. The diaries and, yes, the front page have been slowly bringing the New Year into focus with a laser-like intensity that is utterly misplaced -- because it's the wrong New Year. It's, by a rough count, Romney, McCain, Giuliani, Brownback, and the really fringe nutters who make poor Sam Brownback (who is too much like me to have a chance nationally) look like a landslide candidate -- their pros (mostly their pros, with bells on), their cons (with knives), and some odd things that I think are meant to be one or the other, but end up being neither.
Folks. 2007 is nearly upon us. There are no national elections, but there are races already warming up. Bobby Jindal, a man near and dear to my heart (whom I've never met) is gonna make a run at my poor fellow-Cajun, the hapless Kathleen Blanco (née Babineaux). I've even heard rumors of races in other States across this fabled land. Those Republican candidates will need money, organization, and boots on the ground. Republicans at the State level, for those of you wondering why I'm bothering with this, are absolutely vital for our chances at the national level, for everything from redistricting to farm teams to state party and GOTV work (imagine how Florida would have been had not some guy named Jeb been working that machine like crazy in 2000 and 2004). These races will also give us a taste of where we're weak and strong heading into the sexy race in 2008.
I won't lie: I'm composing a nasty little series about each of the current front-runners for 2008, but I'm holding it dry until mid-to-late 2007. We have work to do now.
So my Christmas wish: Let's focus on 2007 until at least the summer. I know this will be well-nigh impossible for some of us, but nothing would give me a bigger case of the warm fuzzies than to grind it out in the coming year; as long-time readers of this site know, I'm all about the warm fuzzies.
Merry Christmas, all. And remember: Elan may not be all that smart, but he enjoys life much more than Nale does.
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My Christmas Wish 16 Comments (0 topical, 16 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Regardless of ideology, Jindal would probably be good for Louisiana. I'm not sure how much he would be able to acomplish, and he really does not fit the mold of a Louisiana politician. (I'm pretty sure you'll all understand that as a compliment.) But he's a smart and committed public servant.
He is probably the most competent public servent in the country and he is undeniably the most competent public servent in LA. He would have been a Guiliani after Katrina if he had been elected in 2003.
He is a Rhodes Scholar. By 30 years old, he ran the state HHS and the state university system. He could be the beginning of a new era of anti-Huey Long in LA. And if he succeeds, he will be a national candidate some day.
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Social Security Choice - Club For Growth
Adam
I agree in general with you about Bobby, but his major negative in the state which my relatives there point out is his age. He's darn young for a state run by the old bulls of politics in the state.
You are correct in your assessment of his track record, and he's been able to leap tall bureaucracies in a single bound but he's real young as politicians go in Louisiana.
Right now I think he'd kick the Cajun Grandma back to Lafayette, but he might do better to stick it out in Congress and run for 'Weeping Mary's seat in a few years. After all, Moon's machine is not what it used to be.
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Another South Park Republican spouting off !
It's not just his age (and remember, he's older now than he was when he ran the first time, so it should be less of an issue) it's the amount of success he has enjoyed at such a young age. I think there was at least some resentment of a "college boy" who appeared to lack the touch of say a Bill Clinton.
And competence has never been among the big issues in Louisiana politics, but Katrina may have changed that.
I know Arkansas has a different political culture than Louisiana, but we have become a state of young politicians, maybe the same can happen in Louisiana.
Finally, whatever may work best for Jindal's career, I'm not sure that's a big issue for him. I really think he wants be governor for the sake of his state. He can have a much bigger impact on his state as governor than he could as Senator.
And from what I know of Jindal, he would have been exactly what you described in the wake of Katrina. Unfortunately, Gov. Blanco was there to show us how to dance when New Orleans' streets aren't underwater.
SI.
If you can find a copy, read a book called "The Great Deluge" by Douglas Brinkley. There was far more going on in New Orleans during Katrina which was out of Dante's Inferno with some elements in New Orleans acting frankly like animals gone wild that the MSM did not report and people are not talking about even today.
If you wonder how Dollar Bill Bill Jefferson got elected, you have to shake your head over how "chocolate city" Nagain got reelected, he was horrible and spent a large amount of time holed up during the worst of the worst during Katrina according to the book.
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Another South Park Republican spouting off !
It is important to not that Brinkley is not a conservative--the basic thesis of the book is that nearly everyone did a bad job during Katrina, with the important excpetions of the the Coast Guard and the city of Houston.
Brinkley is featured prominently in Spike Lee's movie on Katrina.
By the way, according to Wikipedia (not the best source, I know, but it should be fairly easy to check) Nagin did endorse Jindal when he ran for governor, for whatever that's worth.
There was some talk that the root of the Nagin/Blanco schism was based on Nagain's endorsement of Bobby, but then again Nagin was a Republican for many years too.
On Brinkley, all I can say is that I enjoyed the book, but thought Brinkley was pretty non judgmental on the actions of the animals who went crazy in NO and he said very little about the bad boys of New Orleans, the NO police department. He painted some pretty horrific scenes, and some pretty heroic scenes of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in spite of the disorganization of the State and yes the Federal folks on the ground.
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Another South Park Republican spouting off !
i can say that there is no hope for the state. IMHO its all over, Bobby has no chance. Most of the people who would have voted for him have moved out of the state (like me) to get work.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
I'd say the first is true, the second is not, and the third has been self-evident for decades, which is why (1) I haven't lived there much, and (2) that's why I think of him as the last chance they've got.
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Even those who learn from history are surrounded by those doomed to repeat it.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
Unfortanutely there are not many races in my area until 2008. The Democrat machine controls local politics.
Unfortunately you got me thinking and day dreaming........
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
And I'll refrain from taking the bait via posts, let alone diaries, until late next year.
Merry Christmas to you.