Rumors, speculation and questions about the future of the Republican Party have been running rampant since President-elect Barack Obama and fellow Democrats dominated elections last week. But one Republican, according to Yahoo!, has seen a 350 percent increase in Internet searches regarding a 2012 run and has garnered the Facebook support of many University students — Gov. Bobby Jindal.Jindal, who is     attending the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami, has said his only plans are to seek re-election as governor in 2011. He even recently confirmed reports that he “politely declined” Sen. John McCain’s offer to run as his vice president. “I told them, as I … repeatedly told everyone, I want to continue serving as the governor of Louisiana,” Jindal told The Times-Picayune on Tuesday. “I think we’ve made great progress, but we still have a lot more work to do.”Despite the governor’s words, many college students have shown their support for a 2012 or 2016 Jindal presidential run through Facebook. Students have formed groups including “Bobby Jindal 2012”, “Louisiana Bobby Jindal Supporters” and “Bobby Jindal for President — 2016.”Noel Marcantel, history sophomore, is an officer for the Facebook group “BOBBY JINDAL FOR PRESIDENT IN 2012!”, which has more than 6,000 members. “[Facebook] is the new medium for activism in our generation,” Marcantel said. “It reaches a lot of people, and it doesn’t require much effort. It’s the best way to get in touch with thousands of people at one time.”Marcantel said he supports Jindal because of the governor’s ethics reform efforts and because Jindal has improved Louisiana as a state.”If you can fix Louisiana, you can fix just about anywhere,” Marcantel said. Jesse Callegari, University of Louisiana at Lafayette political science senior, is an officer of the same Facebook group. Although Callegari doesn’t consider herself a Republican or agree with all of Jindal’s policies, she said she still admires his ability to stand up for what he believes despite opposition.”He is a man of integrity,” Callegari said. “That’s something you don’t see in politicians these days.”Another group on Facebook, called “Anti Bobby Jindal” highlights reasons why people should not support Jindal for a 2012 presidential run or even as governor. Daniel Zimmerman, officer for the Facebook group and the candidate who lost to Jindal in the 2004 congressional race, said Jindal has the ambition to be president, but is an “extreme right-wing conservative” whose views do not represent the majority of Americans. “I think a lot of what he has [going for him] is hype,” Zimmerman said. “There’s been a lot of soft-handling by the Louisiana media.”In addition to being the keynote speaker at a banquet for the Iowa Family Policy Center on Nov. 22, Jindal has campaigned for candidates in Missouri, Texas and Florida. Whether Jindal is laying the groundwork for a 2012 or 2016 campaign remains to be seen.”The most important thing is being the best governor I can be for Louisiana, ” Jindal told reporters after a Veterans Day ceremony at the Old State Capitol.Bob Mann, mass communication professor, said the Republican party is in a “rebuilding” stage after its numerous loses in the 2008 general election. He said there will be opportunities for the party to come back, but they will have to examine why the GOP faltered in the election.”[The question is whether] they will take a fundamental look at what the Republican brand is and what it means to people,” Mann said. “And move away from the more divisive, negative issues that have really motivated the base but haven’t done a very good job of reaching out to Independents in recent elections.”Mann said being a minority governor in a southern state, along with his intelligence and youth, will make Jindal a national player in Republican politics. But he added that the timing of the 2012 election could affect Jindal.”If he has any desire to be the nominee in 2012, which he may or may not have … He is going to have a problem,” Mann said. “He is going to have to be campaigning for president while campaigning for re-election as governor and that could cause him some real problems. He could end up losing re-election as governor if he doesn’t handle his presidential ambitions the right way.”Mann said Jindal’s conservative views could also affect his presidential ambitions. “He’s going to have to moderate his positions a little bit,” Mann said. “He can’t govern to the far right like he has the first year of his term as governor.”Mann said it’s too early to make 2012 predictions, but if Obama is a successful president, the next presidential election could be another tough one for Republicans. He said Jindal may not want to run in that situation. “But if some Republican does come up and beat Obama [in 2012] then [Jindal has] got to wait 12 years,” Mann said. “It could be a tough choice for him. It’s probably not a decision that he is anywhere close to making — a lot can happen … It’s not a decision he needs to make now.”Aaron Baer, communications director for the Louisiana GOP, said Jindal is a “rising star” in the Republican party and the GOP will work hard to make sure Jindal has two terms as governor. “The national party is going through a sort of regrouping stage right now,” Baer said. “Confident conservative governance is working in Louisiana, and we could be a role model for the rest of the country.”—-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]