Gov. Bobby Jindal told Fox News he was endorsing Marco Rubio for president, calling him a “principled conservative.”
Jindal Won’t Run for U.S. Senate
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “said he hasn’t ruled out a future run for president, but he has no desire to run for the U.S. Senate seat that’s opening next year with Republican David Vitter’s retirement from the chamber,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
Did Jindal Quit Campaign to Sink Vitter?
“In Louisiana, it’s an open secret that Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) concluded a years-long blood feud with Vitter by ending his presidential campaign on Tuesday,” the Washington Post reports.
Said political reporter Julia O’Donoghue: “You can’t get anyone to admit it, but it’s what everyone thinks. We spent two days talking about refugees and then two days talking about Jindal. Those first two days were the only ones in the runoff when John Bel Edwards was on defense.”
Brownback Beats Jindal as Most Unpopular Governor
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “is the second-least popular governor is the nation, based on a new project that set out to find all governors’ approval ratings,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
“The findings, compiled by Morning Consult, showed only Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) was viewed less favorably than Jindal, who this week ended his presidential run.”
Jindal Won’t Say Who He Voted For
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “took advantage of early voting last week and have already cast the ballots in the Louisiana governor’s race. But Jindal won’t say who he supported,” the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.
“Jindal had announced last week he wouldn’t be endorsing Vitter in the runoff, but now he won’t even tell the public if he voted for his fellow Republican. Jindal and Vitter famously don’t get along. Jindal didn’t endorse Vitter in the 2010 U.S. Senate race either.”
Bobby Jindal Never Had a Chance
The Fix: “Look, even if Jindal ran as the wonky, fresh-faced guy I met 12 years ago, I’m not sure he would have ever broken through in this race. Trump’s presence complicated (and complicates) the calculus for every other candidate. But, at least he could have run a race that had the potential to break through, which was never a real possibility after he chose to become the I-will-say-anything candidate.”
“Here are Jindal’s two saving graces: 1) He’s only 44 years old and 2) people have very short memories. Add it up and it’s uniquely possible that in four or eight years — Jindal will only be in his early 50s in 2024 — he could run again for president.”
Trump Quote of the Day
“Well, he was, you know, a little nasty with me. But I think ultimately was very nice. And he tried… You know, I’m not unhappy to see one by one they go.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, on Gov. Bobby Jindal dropping his presidential bid.
Bobby Jindal Drops Presidential Bid
Gov. Bobby Jindal ended his nearly five-month-old presidential bid, noting that “it is not my time,” the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.
“The campaign chalked Jindal’s failure to gain traction on a bizarre political environment in which no one could have expected outsider candidates like Donald Trump and Ben Carson would be leading the race.”
He declined to discuss whether he’ll make an endorsement in the presidential race, saying, “I don’t think people care.”
Jindal Challenges Cruz to Debate
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) challenged his 2016 rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), “to a one-on-one debate next week in Milwaukee, a move that highlights the intensifying competition for the support of conservatives,” the Washington Post reports.
“Rather than targeting the GOP front-runners, businessman Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Jindal is seeking to contrast himself with Cruz, who presents a more direct threat in Iowa, where both men are battling within a crowded field for evangelical caucus-goers.”
Jindal May Skip Next Debate
Bobby Jindal “might withdraw from the undercard debate next week in Colorado,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“The Louisiana governor is lobbying the Republican National Committee and cable television network host CNBC to alter the eligibility criteria for the prime time debate. Jindal wants early state primary polling to count, versus just an average of national surveys. Jindal barely registers with voters nationally but is in the top 10 and rising in Iowa, and he could forgo the GOP’s third televised debate in favor of campaigning there if changes aren’t made.”
How Unpopular Is Bobby Jindal in Louisiana?
A new WWL-TV/Advocate poll in Louisiana finds Gov. Bobby Jindal trailing Hillary Clinton in a presidential match up in his home state by three points, 45% to 42%.
In contrast, Jeb Bush would crush Clinton by 18 points, 56% to 38%.
Jindal’s Spending Hasn’t Worked
First Read: “Kasich has spent nearly $5 million in TV ads (all in New Hampshire), and he’s gone up in the polls. Jindal and his supporters have spent $2.5 million (all in Iowa), and he really hasn’t. As for the Bush spending, ALL of it has come this month, with $2.3 million coming this week alone. The right time to judge whether the money is working or not is in about a month. It took Kasich about a month of advertising to start seeing results in New Hampshire, let’s check in around Nov. 1 to see how much of a difference money is making for Jeb in the early states.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I think it’s pretty outrageous for him to be attacking anybody’s appearance when he looks like he’s got a squirrel sitting on his head.”
— Gov. Bobby Jindal, quoted by CBS News, on Donald Trump.
Jindal Slams Trump Over and Over
Gov. Bobby Jindal pulled no punches against Donald Trump, “raining down a deluge of criticisms on the current Republican leader in the polls,” Politico reports.
He called Trump “a narcissist,” “an egomaniac,” “non-serious,” “substance-free,” “insecure,” “weak,” “shallow,” “unstable,” among other things.
Said Jindal: “Donald Trump is for Donald Trump. He believes in nothing other than himself. He’s not for anything, he’s not against anything. Donald Trump is a narcissist and he’s an egomaniac. That may sound like a serious charge to make, but everyone knows it to be true.”
Jindal Will Attack Trump In Effort to Rise in Polls
Gov. Bobby Jindal is planning a major attack on GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, the Washington Examiner reports.
“In a Thursday speech that was previewed by his advisors, the Louisiana governor will begin a concerted campaign to discredit the New York businessman/entertainer who sits atop nearly every poll in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.”
Jindal Faces Yet Another Budget Crisis
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and state legislators “were all smiles when they passed the state budget in June, saying they had ended Louisiana’s worst budget crisis in 25 years and averted deep spending cuts,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
“But less than three months later, the budget already is beginning to bleed red ink, and programs for those institutions are again at risk. Legislators and Jindal are facing calls that they act without delay to make the cuts needed to bring the budget back into balance as required under the state constitution — rather than take the politically easy way out by passing the buck to the next governor and Legislature.”
Law Jindal Wanted to Invoke Doesn’t Exist
Baton Rouge Advocate: “The hope that Gov. Bobby Jindal might invoke a state ‘Heritage Act’ to keep the four controversial public monuments in New Orleans in place may be a lost cause. Though Jindal’s administration pledged Thursday to research the law and its possible applicability to the statue controversy, it turns out Louisiana doesn’t have such a law.”
Jindal Says Other States Need Stronger Gun Laws
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “called for tougher gun laws in other states on Sunday, breaking his silence on the issue three days after a gunman with a history of mental illness and violence opened fire in a movie theater in the state’s fourth-largest city,” the New York Times reports.
“Jindal called for states to adopt laws similar to Louisiana’s that feed information about mental illness into a federal background check system for potential gun buyers.”
