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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is by all accounts a highly intelligent and once-upon-a-time serious man — but he has turned into one of the most Twlight Zone-ish Republicans (but now looks almost moderate compared to former New York Mayor Rudy You-don’t-love-America-and-are-probably-not-a-Christian Giuliani. Now a report in The Advocate has come out that Jindal has spent half of 2014 outside of Louisiana.
Running the state, to be sure.
Or…
NOT!
It should come as little surprise that the state’s business often is conducted from outside Louisiana’s borders.
Jindal, who is flirting with a presidential run, spent about 165 days — or 45 percent — of 2014 in places other than Louisiana. In 2013, he was gone about 74 days.
Only one of those trips seems to have been for official state business — an economic development foray to Asia.
But, hey, isn’t it a Governor’s business to run for President of the United States?
What records are available show that for the rest of the excursions, Jindal attended an Army-Navy football game; talked up the reality television show “Duck Dynasty”; raised money and campaigned for more than a dozen GOP candidates; spoke at a couple of conferences sponsored by the Koch brothers and several other political events; tended to America Next, the group he formed to comment on national policies; visited casino magnate and GOP funder Sheldon Adelson; and even attended an event for Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, in suburban Detroit.
But just think about how this is all helping Louisiana.
Jindal spent Friday fundraising in Newport Beach, California. On Saturday, he spoke at the Unite IE Conservative Conference in Riverside, California, and the Council for National Policy Gala in Dana Point, California. On Sunday, he headed to Washington, D.C., for the National Governors Association Conference.
This report is unfair. Doesn’t this publication realize that pandering to his party’s right wing takes time, money, and effort? Can’t they see his achievement? Just look at these impressive numbers:
Louisiana taxpayers have spent $314,144 on Jindal’s out-of-state travels, mostly because the Louisiana State Police must provide security for the governor, according to a review of various campaign finance reports, State Police expense reports, news reports and federal records.
As far as can be discerned with the records available, Jindal pays his own expenses and that of his staff out of his gubernatorial campaign war chest and funds made available by his political action committees.
See? Thank the Lord for PACs and Citizens United.
And, according to The Advocate’s report, he’s getting free rides on planes in many cases. Well, perhaps there might be some string attached in the future:
For the most part, Jindal travels on private planes, often owned by wealthy business supporters: the Chouest family, of Bayou Lafourche; the Davisons, of Ruston; and the Zuschlags, of Lafayette, the records show. He pays for the travel.
What’s an ambitious Governor trying to win the hearts and minds of conservative writers, conservative talk show hosts and Fox News to DO with a report like this?
Why, blame it on Obama — and say you’re fighting the battle for conservatism.
Jindal would not agree to an interview, but he released a statement late Friday. “There are more invites than we can accept, but over the past year, I’ve been invited to multiple places to speak about winning the war of ideas and fighting the failed policies and over-regulation of the Obama Administration. I’ve also been proud to travel to support conservative candidates in elections across the country,” he said.
Louisana voters shouldn’t feel gypped.
Did they know when they elected Jindal they were electing someone to win the war of ideas over Obama and travel all over the country supporting conservative candidates?
Don’t they get it?
I think The Advocate’s reporter does.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.