While the Mitt Romney presidential campaign recently announced that Romney’s longtime adviser, Beth Myers, will lead the way in his vice presidential search, many in the political arena have begun to speculate if Gov. Bobby Jindal will throw his hat into the ring.
Romney said he and Myers began discussing potential running mates last weekend, according to the Huffington Post.
Former presidential candidate John McCain said Jindal would be a “qualified candidate” in an April 4 interview with “CBS This Morning.”
In September, Jindal endorsed former presidential candidate Rick Perry, who dropped out of the race in January. Following Rick Santorum’s campaign suspension, Jindal endorsed Romney.
“Congratulations to Governor Romney on winning a hard fought race,” Jindal said on April 10, according to the Huffington Post. “I look forward to supporting him retiring President Obama. It’s time for all Republicans to focus their energies on the fall campaign which will give Americans a fundamental choice between Obama’s lurch toward European-style big government and the Republican alternative of a thriving private sector with a smaller government.”
But James Garand, political science professor, said it would be unlikely for Romney to select Jindal as his running mate.
“First, Jindal supported Perry, then he supported Santorum, and finally Romney after both candidates dropped from the race,” Garand said. “It would be unlikely that [Romney] would pick someone who was against him. Jindal picked all of Romney’s competitors, and it was like Jindal’s idea was ‘anyone but Romney.'”
In addition to naming Jindal, McCain named Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as other potential running mates.
Garand said Rubio, a Cuban-American, may be a good choice in order to appeal to Hispanic voters.
“Cubans tend to be more conservative though, so I don’t know how much that would help,” Garand said about a potential Romney/Rubio ticket.
Garand also said many voters like Christie for his “straight shooter” personality.
“That could be risky though because he’s so outrageous in the things he says,” Garand said about Christie.
But many Louisiana students say Jindal would be the best match for Romney’s campaign.
Jordan Haney, sociology senior, said he would be more likely to vote for the Republican ticket this fall if Jindal were Romney’s running mate.
“I like that he’s from Louisiana and think it would be a good thing for the state,” he said. “If he were vice president, he might address more Louisiana issues.”
Molly Boesch, business sophomore, said she would also support a Romney/Jindal Republican ticket. As a registered Republican, Boesch said she favors Jindal’s conservative stance on many issues.
But students aren’t the only ones hoping Jindal will take on the vice presidential position.
On April 11, the Louisiana Democratic Party announced it would support Jindal for vice president.
Nevertheless, Jindal claims he currently isn’t pursuing any position in the White House.
“I’ve got the job I want,” Jindal said to Politico. “Our next challenge is pension reform.”
Despite Jindal’s statements, Garand said it’s likely Jindal would accept the vice presidential position if Romney offered it to him.
 
____
Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]