Redstate

By Ben Domenech Posted in Special Events — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Redstate sat down for ten questions with Bobby Jindal, who’s running for Congress in the first district of Louisiana. Jindal shared his take on the convention thus far, his answer to the “who leads after Bush?” question, and his answers for the domestic policy challenges of the next few years.

Read on.

RS: So what’s your opinion of the convention speakers so far?

Jindal: Giuliani had a nice balance of humor and framed his criticism of Kerry well, not in a mean spirited way. We need to be upbeat as a party as we take on John Kerry – there’s so much anger on their side, and we don’t need another Michael Moore – one is enough. We can make real points and confront real issues with the sunny optimism of Ronald Reagan, and I hope we continue to use that strategy.

RS: One of the big questions in this convention is asked in a couple of different ways – the National Journal has a headline this morning on “Who’s Bush’s Heir?” and Redstate has asked “Who leads if Bush loses?” - and there are obviously many journalists guessing about who’s going to be the consensus candidate in 2008, regardless of what happens. As someone who could aspire to this role, what do you think of the situation?

Jindal: I think we have to step back and realize that the leader in ‘08 may well be someone that we don’t even know today. Obviously there are many known names – Majority Leader Frist, Gov. Bush, Gov. Owens, Mayor Giuliani, Gov. Pataki – who could all reasonably try to fill the role. It really all depends on who emerges from the pack.

And I think a lot of this depends on the nature of the issues. Is the war on terror still the biggest issue we face? Or are domestic issues back at the forefront? One of the reasons that Gov. Bush was able to win in 2000 was that domestic issues were the main discussion, and he clearly had the resume to lead on these issues – on education, health care, taxes and other issues.

No, it isn’t clearly “someone’s turn” to take the leadership role – but we don’t want it to be someone’s turn. Few would’ve predicted that President Bush or President Clinton would’ve been the leaders of their parties four years in advance of their victories… and I think that’s a healthy thing – we want to determine who leads based on the challenges we face, based on external events.

RS: Who are some of the potential leaders you’re looking forward to working with in Washington?

Jindal: Well, starting close to home, I’m looking forward to working alongside Jim McCrery, from Louisiana – I think he’s been a real mentor for me. I’ve also made several friendships in DC over the years with some great people, people who display the kind of abilities and gifts we want in an emerging leader: someone who understands the power of ideas, who’s an ideologically consistent conservative, and who can really get things done.

RS: Two-thirds of Redstate is made up of Southerners. We’re proud to be from the South. But there are many analysts who believe that your narrow loss in the gubernatorial election fulfilled the worst kind of clichés about Southern politics, and we reluctantly agree. Do you think that is a fair assessment, or do you have a different observation on how that election played out?

Jindal: I was a candidate of change in my first race. I was proud of that fact. And I think it says a lot of good things about Louisiana politics that I was able to come out of a crowded field. We knew that it was going to be a difficult race against a candidate with a good base, who ran as a conservative from the Southwestern part of the state. Conservative Democrats tend to do very well statewide in Louisiana, though I think it will definitely go for Bush over Kerry.

Yes, I think that not so much the Governor, but some of the Governor’s supporters engaged in attacks that were sad relics of Louisiana political history. But I think the broader view of a 2 point loss is that I did very well in my first election.

RS: You have a great deal of support from the Indian-American community, and a lot of them look to you for leadership, regardless of their personal political ideology. What’s your reaction to this support?

Jindal: It’s wonderful to have the support of Indian Americans. Hopefully, they say: Here’s a child of an immigrant who understands the American dream – and that’s a good thing. The GOP has to be the party of opportunity for all Americans, the party that stands for the idea that if you work hard you will earn success.

At the same time, the community of Indian Americans is too diverse to have one leader – Indian Americans won’t be in one party, and they shouldn’t be. There are already many role models in the Indian American community, and I hope I can just be another example that being active in politics, taking risks and standing up for what you believe is a good thing.

RS: You got into politics at a very young age, and you’ve had an enormous amount of early success. What sort of advice would you give to the young people who are in this city right now who want to be more active in politics, who want to have the kind of career track you have?

Jindal: My advice is twofold: first, get involved immediately, however you can. Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity – those aren’t going to come along. Just start. Get involved at the local level, take advantage of the chance to be in a campaign as a college student, and be active however you can.

The other thing is simple, too: take risks, no matter if you may fail. A lot of people thought that I was nuts to run for Governor at age 31, or to take over the Louisiana health department when I was 24. I wasn’t successful in my first campaign. But we forget that our leaders are not always successful the first time around. I got a nice handwritten note from the President after my loss, and he reminded me that he lost his first race. And as a matter of fact, so did Kerry – both candidates of the major parties lost their first races for elected office. Reagan lost multiple times before he won the presidency. And part of politics is taking risks, going into the field with uncertain outcomes.

RS: How do you see the rest of this Presidential campaign playing out?

Jindal: I think the President will win reelection. I think that the momentum will break for the President. One big unknown is the external events factor, and not just in Iraq. Terrorist attacks of any kind could have a serious impact, an unpredictable impact on this election – as we’ve seen around the world, unfortunately, and I’m still very aware of the enemies that remain. But I think that as more voters look at John Kerry, more of them will feel that they don’t want someone leading in this time who they just can’t trust to be consistent. The economy is improving despite a few hiccups, and the roundups of terrorists continue. I wouldn’t be surprised if things break the President’s way, and I think we’ve already seen that in the polls.

Ultimately, I think that this election will hinge on voters deciding that they can trust the President to do exactly what he promised to do. I think he surprised a lot of people in Washington by doing just that.

RS: What do you think of Kerry’s strategy in all of this?

Jindal: I think that you’ve got a lot of motivated voters in this election, on both sides. But I also think that the oppositional hatred for the President is not enough to win a campaign. I think that the turning point in this election could turn out to be what Senator Kerry didn’t do in Boston – he didn’t provide a real proactive agenda of any kind. Even Clinton did that. Even Howard Dean had a more specific plan for the future. But John Kerry just doesn’t – they don’t want to insult their base by having a plan that’s too moderate, and they don’t want to offend everyone else by being too liberal. He’s just saying, “Vote for me because I’m not the other guy.”

RS: What’s the best answer we can realistically achieve to solve our health care problems and provide people with more freedom to make choices about their care?

Jindal: That’s the crux of it. How do we allow more freedom? Well, we do that by giving people the freedom to control their personal accounts, by adopting a premium support plan, by having HSAs and health plans to help small businesses. We must give people ownership, plans that are portable and provide better freedom. Medicaid is probably the most doable area of change, because there’s frustration among Governors on the right and left over the bureaucracy.

In terms of realistically passing something, it’s going to be very tough to get enough votes in the Senate. 50-51 yes, 60 no. But it all depends on how much political capital the President expends on the issue, and whether the price is too high. I think this is the top domestic priority, after the war on terror and followed closely by the economy/tax-cuts.

RS: We wish you the best in this campaign, and thanks for sitting down with us: but before you go, what book are you reading right now? And what’s your favorite album at the moment?

Jindal: I’m reading Ian Ker’s biography of John Henry Newman. It’s a great book, and he had a profound impact on Oxford and on matters of faith. Of course, it’s slow going reading during the campaign. As for music, I’ve got The Beatles: One in the CD player right now – except when I take my daughter to school in the morning, and she insists on hearing the same Harry Connick Jr. song over and over again.