No matter what he claims, Gov. Bobby Jindal is certainly acting like a future presidential candidate. Jindal addressed the Iowa Family Policy Center in West Des Moines, Iowa — the first state to hold a caucus — on Saturday. Winning the infamous Iowa caucus can establish a sense of momentum and dominance in a presidential primary, as President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign did. Jindal’s visit probably wasn’t without purpose, and I doubt it’s because he misses the corn.Jindal is, at least, basking in the limelight; a rock star in a party out of ideas and running short on charisma. And if Jindal doesn’t want to run for the presidency, there are those still rooting for him. He has impressed some top GOP brass, including Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh — both urged Sen. John McCain to select Jindal as a running mate. But it’s unclear and undoubtedly premature to speculate whether his best shot is in 2012 or 2016. Much of that seems to hinge on Obama’s job performance in his first term. If Obama is relatively successful, Jindal may not want to risk damaging his national image by running against a popular incumbent. But with all this talk about the GOP’s need to restart and rebuild, Jindal will need to find a place to fit in. There are already potential Republican candidates for 2012. Some who ran in 2008 have already carved out potential blocs of support, based on their perceived strengths as candidates.Jindal’s strengths are apparent.He’s an Indian American — quite a jump for a party whose 2008 convention delegates were 93 percent white, according to polls conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. He is also a young man in a party of old men, and boasts a nice family easily worthy of national aspirations.Jindal’s intelligence is quite an improvement and has a leg up on the GOP’s other celebrity, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.She’s not that bright, folks — a point she proudly touted on the campaign trail. Perhaps Jindal’s nomination could break free of the Republican Party’s anti-intellectual culture and rhetoric.Jindal is also a health care policy wonk, and he can speak intelligently and fluently — albeit conservatively — about health care reform. But Jindal may not be the answer to a problem some in the Republican Party see as a failure to reach and appeal to a broader coalition or take the country in a more secular, less culturally divisive direction.  On social issues, Jindal is generally just as, if not more, conservative than Sarah Palin. In Congress, Jindal was a stalwart and reliable supporter of virtually all Republican legislation. He opposes abortion in all cases, opposes stem cell research and flourishes in Christian conservative rhetoric. It’s probably not a good thing to have Rush Limbaugh advocating candidates anymore — he couldn’t even influence his own party into nominating someone other than McCain. His stint as governor in Louisiana — a red state where even Democrats have conservative social views — and his focus on ethics reform, budgetary responsibility and health care during his first term make these views less clear to the casual observer. But as a national candidate, these views would be more visible and pronounced.For example, during the tornado of media coverage over speculation about the presidential candidates’ running mate selections, Jindal received a bit of unwanted attention: In an uncovered article in New Oxford Review, Jindal wrote in detail about having witnessed a rather lively exorcism. Presidential candidate Jindal would have to make a choice about what bloc to court. If he chooses his natural constituency, Christian conservatives, he may well be in for a fight against Palin and Huckabee, two candidates who have developed a passionate following of their own.If he opts for the middle, the moderate Republicans, there is fertile ground for him to plow. But such an appeal would mean damping down the family values, culture warrior talk and playing up his credentials as a policy wonk and a reformer. He would need to become someone he has never been before.He would need to be frank with himself and with his base about the unlikelihood of ever achieving the Christian right’s agenda in a country whose moderate majority seems to be shifting away from such positions.He would need to reconcile his social views with the reality that a new generation of voters came of intellectual independence during an unpopular Republican presidency. He would need to recognize that childbirth is an exercise in expense, too much for some, and that a new and smaller middle class — couples with no children — is beginning to emerge.It won’t be easy, even for a man as dynamic as Jindal, to run as a Republican on the national stage. But, after the last eight years, why should it be easy?—-Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]