I have a friend who worked the Jindal campaign. He is a staffer for him in DC now. The inner camp believes Jindal lost to Blanco, not because of his skin color, but because of his ultra-conservative position on abortion. During the 07 election don't expect the explicit detail he went into around the subject in 03. This time around you will hear he is pro-life, and it will be left at that.
i'm an anti-farmanimalist. cant trust em. any restriction i can think of is a clear violation of freedom of speech. maybe the candidates themselves should just start later. true (with regard to race only), but if even just 5% of people are nervous about voting for a black man, it could make a huge difference. these presidential races can be close, what with the nation divided so equally between red and blue people. i think a woman has it slightly harder than a black fella, and as far as religion goes, a muslim or atheist has no chance whatsoever. zero. only a christian can be president.
That was the issue that cost him democratic urban votes that were not going to go his way anyway, mostly. The issue that cost him the vital republican rural/suburban votes in north louisiana, especially wasn't his color or his abortion stance. It was because they took him for a "foreigner". I must have had a dozen such people tell me they couldn't vote for Jindal because he was an immigrant, one of "them". When I told them that Jindal was born and raised in Baton Rouge, they were unaware that he was one of "us". Tell Jindal's people to get off their city duffs, get out into the countryside, and make a huge point of the fact that his parents were immigrants, like many other Americans, but Bobby himself was born in America and raised here. Unlike Swartzenegger, Jindal could run for President or Vice President someday.
The candidates have no self-control, they are driven by the huge amounts of money created by the influence-pedding that is modern campaigning. It's not a restriction, it's a governor. Enough time is enough time and anything further is wasted, creates lame ducks, and encourages vast corruption. The horse and buggy days of the constitution are over. Candidates don't travel at 5 miles per hour anymore and news travels at the speed of light. It's the communication age and two-year campaigns are a relic and a vast waste.
Jindal lost because of Blanco's negative campaigning in the last two weeks of the campaign. Prior to that time Jindal was in the lead in all the polls. It was not until Blanco began airing her negative campaign ads that Jindal began to drop in the polls. This post probably will not convince you, but it is the truth.
It was his olive skin color that made people think he was a foreigner. The word "foreigner" would not have come up if he was white. I'm not suggesting there is a large number of people who won't vote for a non-white candidate, but there are enough voters out there who won't. Probably less than 10% of white voters, but enough to keep a non-white from winning a close election. Don't forget David Duke got enough votes to finish 2nd in the governor's race just 16 years ago.
Ahem, if I may steer this thread back to the original topic... ROGER L. SIMON February 22, 2007: Why Geffen Said What He Said I've been trying to figure out why David Geffen was so harsh on Hillary Clinton. Whatever you can say about the music mogul, he is one shrewd character, quite savvy about the media and its ways. He's been in the public eye for thirty years or more. In all likelihood, he knew precisely what he was doing when he opened his mouth to Maureen Dowd on the eve of the first public Democratic presidential "debate." This was no accident. So why? READ MORE http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2007/02/why_geffen_said.php
Ive read these opinions about why Geffen deep sixed Hillary and some of its true but there is probably more as well. The writer stating that Geffen thinks Hillary cant win is a no brainer. Of course he thinks that because many democrats think that also. Its a common view in the party. Hillary's biggest problem is her image and its further saddled by her husband. Too many people "HATE" the Clintons. For many people there is no grey area with her. Words like despise, loath and disgust are common themes among polling of voters who wont vote for her. Thats a tough obstacle to overcome. If Hillary gets the nomination she will not become president. You could almost run a dead corpse against her and she would still lose.
changing to a slightly different word doesnt make it smart to restrict the freedom of speech involved in a political campaign. you shouldnt want to solve every percieved problem by imposing your will on the situation. if candidates are campaigning for too long, thats too bad, you should learn to accept it instead of wanting to "govern" it. i want candidates to do and say whatever they please, whenever they please. freedom is important.
True enough. But my point was that all the polls had already taken into account those white voters who would not vote for Jindal due to his race or nationality. They were included in the count from the start. They were not suddenly added in during the last two weeks of the campaign when Jindal started dropping in the polls.
