BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — When Gov. Bobby Jindal heads to Miami on Wednesday to meet with Republican governors from around the country, he’ll be mingling with several state leaders considered the future of the national GOP — just like him.
Jindal’s office said he’ll spend one day at the three-day Republican Governors Association annual meeting, which continues through Friday.
The meeting comes as the Republican Party seeks to regroup from losses of congressional seats and the presidential race. Party leaders point to several GOP governors, including Jindal, as rising stars and possible presidential contenders in the next four to eight years.
Besides Jindal, the list often includes Govs. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Charlie Crist of Florida, Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Sarah Palin of Alaska, who was John McCain’s vice presidential running mate this year. All are scheduled to attend the GOP governors’ meeting.
On Tuesday, Jindal again tossed aside talk of a presidential bid, saying he intended to run for re-election in 2011 — and not for president in 2012.
“The most important thing for me to do is be the best governor I can be for the state of Louisiana,” he said.
But pundits continue to bring up the 37-year-old Jindal’s name as one to watch for 2012. The discussion intensified when Jindal agreed to a fundraising appearance later this month in Iowa, a key state for presidential hopefuls because of its early primary.
The governor will keynote a dinner on Nov. 22 to raise money for the Iowa Family Policy Center’s “Celebrating the Family” banquet, a high-profile Christian conservative event.
While in Miami for the governors’ meeting, Jindal will attend a luncheon and reception and participate in a panel discussion of the 2008 elections. Jindal said he wants the governors to increasingly push for national policy changes, such as health care reform, similar to welfare reform efforts first spearheaded by governors in the 1990s.
“All wisdom doesn’t reside in Washington,” he said.
After Miami, Jindal will head to Chicago on Thursday to deliver a keynote address at a trade conference held by the United States of America-China Chamber of Commerce.
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