I have made no secret of my belief that from a purely
substantive standpoint (politics aside — I make no endorsements),
Rick Santorum is the class of this year’s Republican presidential
field. But as a hypothetical, if one were to create from scratch a
near-perfect presidential candidate, one might come close to
creating Bobby Jindal, who just won re-election in Louisiana this
past Saturday with a phenomenal two-thirds of the vote against nine
(!) opponents.
To begin with, I commend to readers an excellent
feature on him by Jim Geraghty, who credits Jindal with having
“shone” in a “time of testing.”
Meanwhile, politically, here’s how I would describe it. In
this contest, you would want somebody fairly youthful and energetic
because Barack Obama’s youth otherwise remains an advantage. You
would absolutely, positively want somebody who can beat Obama like
a drum on the issue of health care — and there is no elected
official in America, not even Paul Ryan, who knows health-care
policy better than Jindal does. He was head of Louisiana’s health
department at 25, where he almost single-handedly
fixed the state’s horrendous Medicaid problems. He was
executive director of Bill Clinton’s Medicare commission, headed by
Louisiana Democratic U.S. Sen. John Breaux and California’s
Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas, which garnered bipartisan support
but fell victim to the politics of the Lewinsky era. He can explain
“premium support” and market solutions better than anyone in the
business, especially in a debate, where — unlike, perhaps, in a
formal speech setting — Jindal absolutely sparkles.
You would want somebody acceptable to cultural
conservatives (he’s solidly rightward on cultural issues) without
the rhetoric or mannerisms that make some candidates scary to
otherwise right-leaning independents who may be culturally a bit
center-left (Yuppies, Bobos in Paradise, whatever you want to call
them). You want somebody with a fiscal record Tea Partiers would
absolutely love. (Try a rare “A” on CATO’s report card and, as
Geraghty describes, a 26 percent overall cut in state spending.)
You would want somebody with a good record of economic development
who leads a state with better-than-average unemployment figures.
You would want a record of good administrative management, and one
with a spotless record on personal ethics success at pushing ethics
reforms.
You would want, again, an accomplished debater. You would
want somebody with at least some Washington experience (perhaps
several years in Congress) but with a clearly executive background.
You would want somebody of almost genius-level intelligence who
nevertheless repeatedly has demonstrated a “common
touch.”
You would, from a political standpoint (this should
not matter, but it does), want somebody who’s not
standard-issue WASP. Young voters, especially, really do think
multiculturalism is a virtue. You would want somebody with some
real fund-raising chops, to compete with the $700 million Obama
will scare up. You would want somebody with a sunny disposition and
a reputation as a problem-solver.
And, considering how dire things are likely to remain in
this country through Election Day of 2012, you would want somebody
who has been at his best in a crisis. Jindal has handled not one
but three crises with remarkable aplomb: Hurricane Katrina, as a
congressman who was almost the only public official who earned good
reviews; Hurricane Gustav, as governor (discussed by Geraghty); and
the BP oil spill, where he was Johnny-on-the… er, make that
Bobby-on-the-spot throughout the ordeal, exuding a can-do
spirit and a creative, problem-solving mien.
Every one of these descriptors fits Jindal precisely. He’s
a leader who somehow maintains solid conservatism without seeming
particularly partisan. He’s a governor who has
overseen the almost total-takeover by Republicans of a
once-purple state (all seven statewide offices and majorities in
both legislative chambers are now GOP-held) without verbally
bashing the other side. Oh, he can fight politically with the best
of them — you must be tough to thrive in Louisiana’s infamous
political swamps — but he often serves his revenge cold, as the
ancient wisdom advises, and silently, outmaneuvering adversaries
rather than bludgeoning them.
Critics on the right complain that Jindal is not great at
returning phone calls, that his staff is absurdly arrogant, and
that he has raised legislative caution to an art form rather than
daring big, transformative initiatives. Nonetheless, the public
probably doesn’t care much if political power players get frozen
out while the governor mingles frequently with “ordinary” voters,
and probably would rather see quietly effective managerial
competence — even ruthlessly efficient, as the case may be — than
to have their lives or their newscasts roiled by yet more political
drama with nasty tinge.
Jindal already has endorsed Rick Perry for president.
Party leaders still looking to recruit another candidate might want
to consider convincing him to renege on that endorsement. This
nomination battle is still volatile enough for one more candidate
to blow into the race with hurricane force tailwinds.
