Leadership and Crisis,
by Bobby Jindal


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Bobby Jindal was considered one of the hottest up-and-coming Republican prospects for the 2012 presidential race, until Feb. 2009. That was when Jindal was asked to deliver the Republican response to Pres. Obama’s first state-of-the-union speech. Jindal’s speech was supposed to be his introduction on the national stage, to propel him to the nomination race in 2012, much as Barack Obama used his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention to catapult himself to the 2008 nomination. But Jindal’s speech instead was a flop. He admits “I blew it” on pages 37-38, framing the flop as evidence that he’s “teleprompter-challenged.” That’s a clever framing which references the common GOP criticism that Obama’s greatest gift is reading from a teleprompter.

We’ll see if that strategy works come 2012—i.e., if Jindal can reintroduce himself despite his bad first impression. This book is his second impression. His strategy this time around focuses on bashing Obama, which organizes Jindal’s attack for the 2012 race. Besides the subtle teleprompter jab, Jindal is much less subtle about the BP oil spill. He devotes an entire chapter to the subject, detailing how Obama cared about photo ops and defended the bureaucracy while Jindal fought to protect the Louisiana coastline and stop the oil flow. To present himself as bipartisan, Jindal also bashes Pres. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

If Jindal succeeds with this reintroduction, he will bring a different perspective to the presidential race. He proudly declares himself a son of the Deep South--which positions Jindal as an anti-elitist (like Gov. Sarah Palin) and from the Republican heartland (like Gov. Mike Huckabee). As a governor, he can position himself as a Washington outsider (like Gov. Mitt Romney). As a two-term Member of Congress, he can position himself as knowing the system (like Sen. Jim DeMint).

His advantage over those four is that he is a minority--his parents immigrated from India and Jindal converted to Christianity from Hinduism. That’s a strong credential running against Barack Obama, defusing the “race issue” by matching the Democrats. His immigrant parents also let him defuse the too-hot-to-touch immigration issue. And his conversion from Hinduism as a teenager--detailed over pages 44-50--positions Jindal as a solid churchgoer who really understands tolerance of other religions.

We’ll see over the course of this year whether Jindal’s reintroduction and repositioning succeeds. It’s not a sure thing that he’s running for president yet--but he faces re-election for governor in November 2011. Jindal will have to declare to the people of Louisiana his intentions for 2012. That thrills pundits, who get to read between the lines and parse each word. You can decide for yourself by staying tuned to our 2011 gubernatorial coverage.

-- Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief, OnTheIssues.org, Jan. 2011

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Bobby Jindal: 2003: In first race, admitted to liberals he was pro-life.     Bobby Jindal: Judeo-Christian heritage fosters culture of life.

Budget & Economy     Andrew Cuomo: 1990s HUD: Sued banks to make more mortgage loans.     Milton Friedman: Every politically free society has a free market.

Civil Rights     Bobby Jindal: Strong views opposing same-sex marriage.

Crime     Bobby Jindal: Chemical castration for sexual predators.     Bobby Jindal: Death penalty for violent child rape.

Drugs     Bobby Jindal: Never experimented with drugs as a youth.

Education     Bobby Jindal: Reward good teachers with flex pay.     Bobby Jindal: Pay 90% of public school cost as private & parochial tuition.     Bobby Jindal: Tap faith-based groups to run charter schools.     Bobby Jindal: I favor whatever works, including vouchers & charters.

Energy & Oil     Barack Obama: De-facto moratorium on shallow as well as deepwater drilling.     Bobby Jindal: Drilling moratorium was second disaster after BP spill.     Bobby Jindal: Develop any & all methods of producing energy.     Bobby Jindal: Cap-and-trade is a jobs bill for other countries.     Jimmy Carter: 1970s windfall taxes reduced domestic production.     Ted Kennedy: OpEd: Opposes Cape Wind on NIMBY grounds.

Environment     Barack Obama: Promised that anyone losing job in spill would get BP check.     Bobby Jindal: Too-big feds failed on BP oil spill just like on Katrina.     Bobby Jindal: Feds took weeks to build sand berms needed for BP spill.     Bobby Jindal: Faith-based groups moved faster than feds during Katrina.     Steven Chu: OpEd: Nobel Prize does not help keep BP oil spill away.

Families & Children     Bobby Jindal: Family values reduce poverty; war on poverty doesn't.

Foreign Policy     Barack Obama: OpEd: Claims "poverty causes terrorism" but they're educated.     Bobby Jindal: America is exceptional & should remain the greatest country.     John McCain: Create League of Democracies, instead of UN with dictators.     Ronald Reagan: Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.

Government Reform     Bobby Jindal: Federal government has become too expensive & too expansive.     Bobby Jindal: Make being a Congressman a part-time job.     Bobby Jindal: Full financial disclosure for both legislators & lobbyists.     Bobby Jindal: Line-item veto & single-item legislation.     Bobby Jindal: Fighting big government is conservative missionary work.     Gerald Ford: A government that gives everything can also take everything.

Health Care     Bobby Jindal: Healthcare is a right; but instrument is the marketplace.     Bobby Jindal: Market-based alternatives to top-down ObamaCare.     Bobby Jindal: Euthanasia cheapens life just like abortion & infanticide.

Homeland Security     Bobby Jindal: Ill-advised to scale back missile defense.     Bobby Jindal: Don't give Miranda rights to terrorists.     Bobby Jindal: Claim of "poverty causes terrorism" justifies globalism.     Bobby Jindal: Make no apologies when we must use our military strength.     Janet Napolitano: Uses term 'man-caused disasters' instead of 'terrorism'.     Joseph Lieberman: Treating terrorists as criminals prevents obtaining info.     Susan Collins: Treating terrorists as criminals prevents obtaining info.

Immigration     Bill Clinton: 2000: Required agencies to communicate in foreign languages.     Bobby Jindal: Enforce existing laws & refocus on high-skill immigrants.     Bobby Jindal: Mexico is effectively exporting its unemployment to us.     Fred Thompson: We should be a nation of high fences & wide gates.

Principles & Values     Bill Clinton: OpEd: America elected Clinton knowing his personal history.     Bobby Jindal: Crisis principles: urgency; listening; informing public.     Bobby Jindal: I'm a son of the Deep South.     Bobby Jindal: Elite harbor condescending view of people of faith.     Bobby Jindal: 2009 Obama response speech: I blew it.     Bobby Jindal: Traditional Hindu values mesh with Bible Belt beliefs.     Bobby Jindal: Journey from Hinduism to Christianity began in high school.     Haley Barbour: OpEd: Successful GOP chair and policy wonk.     Kathleen Blanco: 2003 TV ad: "Wake up, Louisiana!" beat Jindal 52-48.     Ted Stevens: Accepted gifts from oil services company.

Tax Reform     Bobby Jindal: The more you pay in taxes the less you are free.

Technology     Bobby Jindal: Same communication problems during Katrina as on 9/11.

Welfare & Poverty     Bobby Jindal: Feds obliged to care for those who can't care for themselves.     Bobby Jindal: Land of the Free shouldn't become Land of the Free Lunch.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Andrew Cuomo Barack Obama Bill Clinton Bobby Jindal Fred Thompson Gerald Ford Haley Barbour Janet Napolitano Jimmy Carter John McCain Joseph Lieberman Kathleen Blanco Milton Friedman Ronald Reagan Steven Chu Susan Collins Ted Kennedy Ted Stevens

The above quotations are from Leadership and Crisis,
by Bobby Jindal.

Autobiographies for 2012 GOP primary candidates: No Apology, by Gov. Mitt Romney, Mar 2, 2010 Real Change, by Speaker Newt Gingrich, Dec 18, 2007 Biographies: CEO of SELF, by Herman Cain, 2001 Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption, by Jules Witcover, 2010 Rick Santorum: A Senator Speaks Out on Life, Freedom, and Responsibility, 2005 Michele Bachmann: Why She Will Win, by Ron Paul Jones, 2011 A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, by Hugh Hewitt Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values and His Vision, by Lisa Ray Turner and Kimberly Field Deliver Us from Evil, by Sean Hannity

Policy books: Confidence Men, by Ron Suskind, 2011 Core of Conviction, by Rep. Michele Bachmann, 2011 It Takes a Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, 2005 On My Honor, by Gov. Rick Perry, 2008 End The Fed, by Rep. Ron Paul, Sep 16, 2009 Gold, Peace, and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency, by Ron Paul, 2007 My Journey to the White House, by Herman Cain, 2011

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