Baton Rouge, La. — The Louisiana Democratic party has effectively conceded this year’s gubernatorial race. This does not mean merely that the party could not find a big-name challenger — though they couldn’t — or that they could not even find a token state legislator to be the sacrificial lamb, though they could not do that, either. Technically, four candidates ran as Democrats in the state’s nonpartisan “jungle primary”; the best-known among them was a Haynesville, La., middle-school teacher. No, what really stands out is that the Democratic State Central Committee declined to endorse any of them.
Such is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal’s record that almost no one in the Bayou State wants to challenge it. Somehow, his achievements have triggered a complete implosion of Democratic gubernatorial ambitions in a state that has had four Republican governors in 125 years, and that’s including Buddy Roemer, who was elected as a Democrat but switched parties while in office.
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Timmy Teepell, Jindal’s longtime chief of staff who is now operating as a campaign aide, is half serious when he says he’s disappointed that the governor won’t face a competitive race.
Beyond Louisiana, GOP and conservative leaders gush about Jindal. Virginia governor Bob McDonnell calls him “transformational,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus labels him “a natural leader,” New Jersey governor Chris Christie says he’s set an example for other GOP governors, and Rush Limbaugh says, “Far be it for me to choose veeps, but I like Jindal right where he is. I think he is perfectly suited for the job he has and in time I believe it will launch him to loftier heights.”
So how did one of the worst-run states end up with a governor doing so well that no opposition lawmaker wants to even try to run against him?
Perhaps only an event as catastrophic as Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath could get Louisianans to reevaluate every aspect of their political and governmental life. The legacy of Gov. Huey Long seems as far-reaching and ubiquitous in Louisiana as that of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Turkey. Even with his 70 percent job-approval rating, Jindal is careful to begin every reference to his legendary predecessor with, “There’s no denying that Huey Long did a lot of good things for this state, but . . . ”
It was another natural disaster that spurred the election of Long: the Great Flood of 1927, when the Mississippi River remained at flood stage for a record 153 days. Long castigated the state government’s atrocious response to the disaster and criticized “plutocrats” who had suffered the least from the flood, and his election launched a new era of leftist-populist governance. Oil-and-gas companies — incapable of moving their operations away from the natural resources — were taxed heavily, and the state government went on a spending binge, setting up state-run charity hospitals that offered free care and implementing enormous public-works projects, building roads, bridges, and schools. After Long filled the state government with patronage positions, he expected his employees to kick back a portion of their wages into his campaign fund.
Long’s larger-than-life persona and “a chicken in every pot” spending policies set the standard for the state’s politics. For decades, Louisiana’s governing class became synonymous with loud, colorful personalities and rampant, and largely tolerated, corruption. For the most part, voters concluded that even if local officials were skimming money, the lawmakers weren’t really stealing from them. Cajun congressman Billy Tauzin used to joke that half of Louisiana was underwater, and the other half was under indictment.
So long as the oil-and-gas revenues continued, the shipping ports operated, the tourists came for Mardi Gras, and the food remained terrific, the state carried on. Michael Barone began his description of the state in a recent edition of his Almanac of American Politics by declaring that Louisiana “often seems to be America’s banana republic . . . with an economy increasingly dependent on businesses typical of picturesque Third World countries.”
I'm not anti-Jindal, but this IS the same Jindal that signed a bill into law that bans the use of cash to buy second hand goods in his state. He's not exactly about Liberty or even strict conservatism.
Reading comprehension is in a sad state, as this post evinces.
I am not Anti-Jindal.
However, banning cash sales for anything that has been sold before (please use your mind to think of things other than garage sales) is against individual liberty, and will probably be struck down in court.
While you can whine about taxes all day, Governors have to balance budgets. Jindal cut 26% of the state's budget with barely a whimper, which could only be considered ridiculously successful. Sadly, that's not enough money to fix Louisiana. Add to this the unfriendly business atmosphere that existed in the state due to corporate taxes and corruption. Some of the revenue had to be shifted to the citizens. If it lures industry to the state and citizens gain employment, they're beneficiaries, even if they pay a bit more in taxes.
He has to change the tax sceme to collect more revenue, and that undoubtedly means some will pay more taxes. He acknowledges that LA needs a "rainy day fund" the likes of which TX has, and the money has to come from somewhere.
Fiscal conservatism is about more than shrinking government and dropping taxes. S&P has judged him a good steward of taxpayer money, so what are YOU griping about.
He clearly won't please the libertarian wing of the party (of which I'm a part of), but we can only judge him on results, and so far he's been outstanding. Just remember that states are allowed by the Federal Government to intervene more in the affairs of their residents.
I have a feeling that if Jindal keeps up on his tours of the state like the article mentions, he'll get an earful about this. Also, based on the article you linked, despite the stated purpose of this legislation, the sponsor sure didn't make it well known. I can't believe that law enforcement REALLY needs this tool.
Somebody mentioned that it wouldn't stand up in court. Why let it get that far? The state's citizens should be calling their reps now for a repeal of this inane law.
No, it DOESN'T apply to garage sales. If you hold a garage sale more than monthly, you are running a business. This law will be upheld.
§1861. "Secondhand dealer" defined. Anyone, other than a nonprofit entity, who buys, sells, trades in, or otherwise acquires or disposes of junk or used or secondhand property more frequently than once per month from any other person, other than a nonprofit entity, shall be deemed as being engaged in the business of a secondhand dealer.
BTW, the sand berms were a stupid, ineffective waste, and quite a few honest and non-partisan PhDs from Louisiana said so.
This is a good article, and Mr. Jindal deserves the praise he receives.
I must quibble with the last sentence of the piece, "It’s a sign of hope for residents of Illinois, California — and America as a whole, under this presidency gone awry"
This presidency did not go awry. The trail of destruction in the wake of virtually every act of the Obama administration was precisely what what was promised in the campaign. If one took the time to read the books attributed to Obama's hand, there was no mystery. The American electorate should be awarded a belated Darwin Award for its performance in 2008.
First class manager. I couldn't praise him too much. We need more like him in the governorships. If you can make it in Louisianna you can make it anywhere in politics.
Clearly, this analysis is deeply flawed. As a Tea Party sympathizer, I am well known as a racist. I can't help but notice that "Jindal" is not a very "white" name. And his hew seems somewhat too dark for me possibly to like. And don't even get me started about the bigots that inhabit Louisiana. I can only imagine the massive voter fraud that must have existed to allow this imposter to occupy the Governor's Mansion! Seriously, Mr. Geraghty, I expected better from you. What's next . . . Tea Party support for Herman Cain? Ha! That'll be the day.
As a Louisiana native, I have lived 21 of my 33 years post-college outside of the State, including the last dozen years. I left when I was 21 to go to Dallas, TX, for medical school; and I returned to the State twice -- once to complete residency; and again to try to "make it work" (i.e., staying in Louisiana) by taking position at Tulane Medical School for a few years.
What drove me away was a combination of things unrelated actually to just "finding a job," which is never difficult for a physician.
First and foremost is the crime -- both Baton Rouge and New Orleans have horrific crime rates, even after New Orleans "exported" a lot of its crime to Houston after Katrina. (Before then, I used to tell my wife, also a Louisiana native, that the only "export" Louisiana has is college-educated people.)
The pollution is a big negative. No one can drive into Baton Rouge, for example, without wondering whether the oil refineries don't impact health. Of course, this is true, too, of Bay City, TX; but it is a big negative nonetheless.
The corruption of the local officials is exasperating, even though it didn't affect me on a daily basis, it is very wearisome to live in a place with out-and-out horribly corrupt "public" officials -- most of whom ought to be indicted but never are. Think of cold-cash Jefferson; of Edwin Edwards; Morial X 2; Nagin. And yet the voters of Louisiana were (are?) so yellow-dog Democrat that they'd keep re-electing these idiot-buffoons over and over and -- nauseatingly -- over again. Think about what Orleans Parish School Board meetings used to be about -- and how little those idiots accomplished -- that was the State of Louisiana.
Think about the dreadful infrastructure problems -- highways, bridges -- hell, just the cratered/potholed streets in New Orleans! (I remember how shocked I was living in Austin that some streets were re-paved with barely a ripple visible in the pavement!) The aging sewer system; the aged electric grid. In my dozen years in Texas, it was obvious that that was a State that cared -- a lot -- about infrastructure!! Just any one of the big cities in Texas has more highway construction going on on any given day than all of Louisiana has throughout the State in any year....
Houston built its great ship channel, while New Orleans rested on the "laurel" of being lucky enough to have the River flow by, barely bothering to upgrade the Port for decades, while Houston and Mobile and Gulfport all upgraded; while New Orleans's "Dock Board" was too busy with corruption to be bothered actually competing for business.
Then there is the Mardi Gras mentality. I often thought that the best thing that could happen to New Orleans would be to abolish Mardi Gras, and all the attendant "laissez-les-bons-temps roulez" way of life. Too many Louisianans could think about nothing but their next po-boy or king cake; their next fishing expedition; the next Saints game; etc, etc. Where's the ambition? Where's the drive? I'll tell you: it left the State decades ago, for Atlanta, for Dallas, for Houston, for Austin, for Nashville, for Charlotte.
Geography, it is true, conspired against Louisiana as well. Face it: New Orleans is a swamp surrounded by water. Where can decent businesses locate without needing highly expensive site work? And when companies are looking around for a great location, their executives just cannot find the beautiful neighborhoods and solid public schools that routinely attract businesses to the bustling metropolises all over the rest of the South. A lot of this is zoning -- which could have saved Metairie if it had been done right (but wasn't) -- but a lot of it truly is not anyone's fault. On the other hand, when Walt Disney is rumored to have been considering the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain for where to put Disney World, what did Louisiana officials do but stick their hands out for pay-offs? The North Shore could yet develop properly -- with better zoning -- but the loss of Disney World to Florida is a once-in-a-lifetime lost opportunity that has happened all-too-often on a smaller scale over the last 7 or 8 decades.
Having said all these negative things, of course it is cheering to hear of Gov. Jindal's hard-earned improvements. Maybe Louisiana -- finally -- is going to turn a corner. Whether or not Louisiana will eventually join the New South? Maybe -- just maybe -- I'll live long enough to see it.
Like Jindal would give up the "service" element of governance to become akin to the disaster of biden? Haven't heard that scuttle butt. Keep us informed; you know politics RUNS on gossip and inuendo. Forgive me if i miss your cynical updates.
Ditto, WRT! I too choked up at that reference. Louisiana owes a lot to the rest of the country post Katrina, but especially Texans who absorbed more than their share of our excesses. And when Bobby Jindal endorses Rick Perry, another current governor who has managed to improve, not worsen his state's finances, I'm inclined to listen.
If only Obama had followed the kind of policies that Gov Jindal has given the state of LA. our nation would be in a boom now and Americans would be going back to work. Instead we got Obama's extreme left wing, tired, old, failed, 1960s polices, and they've inflicted terrible damage to our nation. Massive UNEMPLOYMENT, DEBT, POVERTY, Solyndra. The list of disasters under Obama is endless. Nov 2012 can't get here soon enough!
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