It was Thomas Jefferson who, in addressing the economist and Pennsylvanian delegate Tench Coxe in 1799 said, “Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rotten-ness begins in his conduct.”
Does this character description sound familiar to you? If not, no problem. Let me introduce you to the man who is emitting, or at the very least is in the process of absorbing, some of the contagion: Bobby Jindal.
Though Jindal was not the vice-presidential candidate chosen by Mitt Romney, he’s not out of this year’s Republican game. Jindal has already fled from Louisiana and is once again in another state, campaigning on behalf of the Romney-Ryan ticket — while back at home, document and interview requests go unanswered.
For a man who just a few years ago exhorted “transparency in government,” his new protocol, disregarding those who have questions calls into doubt his own golden rule, and as Jefferson said, his decay.
Jindal has already ventured into four of this year’s election swing-states to attend conservative meet-and-greets and happy handshaking sessions. It can be argued that he attended all of these events — including the most recent — hoping to procure the VP nod from Romney.
This latest adventure from Jindal, however, tells of another plan that he, and by association Romney and Ryan, might have in mind. And there is good reason to think this might be an appointment as the Secretary of Education.
While those of us in Louisiana know how much of a failure Jindal’s “education reform” was — a government-funded violation of the separation of church and state and an extremely flawed auditing system, to name only two pitfalls — he is lauded on the national stage for his tenacity, strength and commitment to change on this subject.
Are you surprised? Consider for a moment the conservative, tea-party base doing the applauding, and your bewilderment will be rendered unnecessary.
So, if Jindal is going to be involved in the prospective Romney-Ryan administration further than he already is, it naturally fits that he be involved somewhere regarding education.
And if he hasn’t given that impression thus far, a certain trip he took the previous week certainly helps. Last Thursday, Jindal met Ryan and Bob McDonnell (another once-plausible VP pick) in Richmond for a panel discussion with the latter’s K-12 Education Reform Summit. Jindal will have plenty to contribute here, since he is the GOP’s standard-bearer on education. And don’t forget that this was probably Romney’s idea in the first place.
Romney, in picking Ryan as his running-mate, did not pick the safe or careful candidate. In fact, Romney deliberately chose the more dangerous choice for two reasons: to offset his own triteness and aridity and to galvanize the conservative base.
He has succeeded in both of these, although much more of the latter than the former. It is important to note that while most candidates are running only against the opposing party, Romney is running against his own.
The far-right fringe, which now amasses to a sizable portion of the conservative base, dislikes him for being a moderate flip-flopper on several social issues. They also see him as someone who, since receiving the nomination, has begun feigning conservative sentiments.
And worse for him, his ingenuity is obvious. Because of his party’s lack of trust in him, picking Jindal as the Secretary of Education falls squarely into Romney’s appointment strategy of selecting those who both energize his base, and more importantly, his ticket.
Arun Gunasekaran is a 20-year-old biochemistry major from Baton Rouge.
