Jindal gets only one LA vote for president
8th June 2015 · 0 Comments
By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer
Despite so many trips to Iowa it often appeared that Bobby Jindal had chosen to be governor of the Hawkeye State rather than the Pelican, a poll last week by the Des Moines Register put him in 14th place among 16 potential GOP presidential candidates amongst potential caucus voters.
National rankings put him at less than two percent, below the threshold to qualify for August’s first GOP Presidential debate in Ohio, but these surveys pale in comparison to lack of political support that Jindal enjoys from senior Republican activists from Louisiana, at least if his straw poll performance at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference is any indication.
He only earned one vote from the Louisiana contingent at the Oklahoma City conclave of GOP activists on May 23, 2015. Almost every Republican who knew Jindal best at the convention opted to support another Presidential contender.
On the surface, the Louisiana Governor’s position in that SRLC straw poll was respectable. He came in Ninth place with 4.1 percent of the vote, behind Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio respectively—but ahead of Carly Florina, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump, and Lindsey Graham.
The 29 votes Jindal earned in total proved a laudable midrange finish, outpacing his anemic national polling positions. The problem was that of the more than 20 GOP conference attendees from Louisiana, only one voted for their own state’s governor for president.
Louisiana Republican Chairman Roger Villere did say that he had cast his ballot for Jindal, but otherwise would not comment on the fact that his fellow Louisiana Republicans at the SRLC chose not to do so.
Jindal has counted upon a strong showing in the South, to bolster his long-term primary chances, after launching his campaign in Iowa amongst Christian Conservatives, a group he has actively courted in recent months with his support for “Religious Freedom” legislation that allows businesses to refuse service for gay marriages, and the subsequent LA Executive Order to that affect.
The Louisiana Governor had hoped for a breakout of the pack in the March 1, 2016 Iowa caucuses, and then a boost in the so-called “SEC primary,” the first Tuesday in March when most of the Deep South will go to the primary polls, followed by a strong showing here in the Pelican State on Saturday, March 5.
His polls at home have been anemic, though. A Public Policy Polling survey put Jindal at 32 percent in Louisiana, and far from his home state’s GOP electorate’s first preference for President.
Last week’s survey of likely Iowa Republican caucus goers conducted by The Des Moines Register and Bloomberg Politics showed that only 1 percent of the people surveyed said Jindal was their first choice among the Republican candidates, and four percent said he ranked as their second choice.
His visits to Iowa have in improved the Louisiana governor’s position, from 39 percent in March to 43 percent in late May. The number of people who view Jindal as “very favorable” is also up significantly, from 10 percent in March, to 15 percent this month.
The poll was conducted May 25-29 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. The Republican portion of the poll is based on telephone interviews with 402 registered Iowa voters, according to The Des Moines Register.
The Louisiana Governor seemed unperturbed by his lackluster Presidential performance. “On the Republican side, this will be an earned nomination, unlike the Democratic side, this is not a coronation,” Jindal told “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos.
“I’m still biased towards governors, especially vis-a-vis senators and others. I think that those that have run something either than the private sector over their states, we are better qualified,” Jindal said later, according to a transcript of the interview.
This article originally published in the June 8, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
