Bobby Jindal says he "politely declined" to run for vice president

[funkybutt]

Source: The Times-Picayune

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Tuesday that he "politely declined" last summer an opportunity to be on John McCain's short list for the vice presidency.

Jindal said he was asked whether he would allow himself to be "vetted, " a thorough background search that is conducted on all potential running mates but does not necessarily mean Jindal would have been chosen for the ticket.

"I told them, as I . . . repeatedly told everyone, (that) I want to continue serving as the governor of Louisiana, " Jindal said. "I think we've made great progress, but we still have a lot more work to do."

The McCain campaign's interest in Jindal, and Jindal's decision to turn it down, were first reported earlier this week by washingtonpost.com.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/governor_bobby_jindal_says_he.html

[onehandle]

1. ...because he knew that McCain was going to lose. nt

[Gato Moteado]

3. either that or he knew they'd find something major if they vetted him

and he'd be humiliated and possibly his political life would suffer as a result.

[onehandle]

4. ...even better. nt

[Mike Daniels]

23. I doubt he'd be letting himself be talked up as a prospect for 2012 if that was true

Why let your national party waste their time considering you for Pres. if you know years ahead of time that something in your past will eliminate you or be potentially damaging.

Besides, given the focus LA has had in the past few years wouldn't any real dirt on him have come up during the run for governor?

I'll bet that he simply saw McCain as a losing proposition and didn't watch to hitch a ride on the ship.

[nichomachus]

2. Damn!! McCain's campaign could have used a good exorcism

So, we ended up with Palin, a wacky Christian witch hunter instead of Jindal, a wacky Christian exorcist.

[not fooled]

30. Yeah, that fits the bill...

..."something major" that's humiliating. Of course, the exorcism crap would actually ENDEAR him to the kook element. :scared:

Remember, Rove (I think it was) referred to the religious wing of the GOP as "the wackos". The 'puke leaders know they are dealing with nut jobs but will pander to and exploit them mercilessly.

[napi21]

5. I wonder how many other people were asked and declined?

Ever since they picked Palin I've been saying if they wanted a woman to try to get the ex Hillary voters, there were a number of other qualified Pub women who would have been much better, but I think they were all too smart to accept! They knew McNuts didn't stand much of a chance and they weren't willing to sacrifice their own careers for a long shot.

[last_texas_dem]

21. The other Republican women they could have picked

likely weren't as right-wing or Christian fundamentalist as Palin. With Palin they thought they could get the best of both worlds and make both anti-Obama former Clinton supporters and fundies more enthusiastic, but they only ended up succeeding with the latter. That's my assumption at least...

[Pab Sungenis]

6. Retroactive CYA and nothing else.

It's obvious that they did no vetting because, if they had, Caribou Barbie would never have been chosen.

[Robb]

9. Indeed. That was the part of this story that didn't pass the smell test.

"Vetting." :D

[LeftyMom]

15. Maybe they spent so long looking for a sucker they ran out of time for vetting?

If they got multiple rejections that might have eaten up all their time/resources for the process, especially since they started pretty late in order to get a good idea of who Obama's pick would be.

[Gator_Matt]

7. Jindal must be reasonably intelligent

Compare his refusal with Palin's alacrity. He knew better than to have the loser label pinned on him. Now he can run in 2012 or 2016 without that stigma.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. Jindal is crazy but brilliant, as in Rhodes Scholar brilliant.

[loyalsister]

19. Exactly

He also strikes me as a person with some self respect. He would be more inclined to run with some semblance of dignity rather than to be selected as running mate with his minority status featured as a last ditch history making effort to compete with the our amazing ticket.
He is definitely one of the more threatening Republicans out there because of his intelligence.

[stray cat]

8. Sure he did.... too many skeletons in the closet?

[KTinaY2008]

10. Never stopped a repuke before. NT

[AllentownJake]

11. Jindal scares me

This election would have been closer with Bobby on the McCain ticket. I disagree virtually with everything he believes however he isn't ignorant like Palin. I believe he was keeping his Powder dry for '12 o '16

[blm]

12. Because anyone with a pulse or brain knew GOP would lose 2008 by Nov 2006.

.

[eilen]

14. Maybe he wanted to

actually accomplish something, instead of "fluffing" his resume. I don't know much about the man and hell... Louisiana... that is a big hill of dirt to shovel. Dimwit Palin has no sense of her limitations, political trends, or really anything of great import in this country and lacks intellectual curiosity of all of the above. Basically she was consistent, she jumped for the first guy that asked her.

[BanTheGOP]

16. Jindal in on my short list

Bobby Jindal is on my short list of the world's most dangerous people. I will have to admit, though, that I believe that Jindal will look at '12 for a run (NOT "OH-twelve, as a bunch of idiots on the news stations keep saying, as well as "OH-ten" for the midterms).

I will constantly be on the lookout for such dangerous people. His age and relative success at a young age makes him a prime target to take out sometimes down the road, like we took out Tom Delay and George Allen.

[Blasphemer]

17. I think he will wait until '16 depending on the political climate

If Obama's approval ratings are still good, he is young enough to wait until '16. No reason to try for '12 unless things are looking particularly bad for Democrats.

[Kool Kitty]

18. He gives me the creeps.

Scary man.

[MountainLaurel]

22. Pukes are already talking about it

I noticed a Jindal in 2012 group on Facebook last night.

[ryanmuegge]

24. He's Neal Boortz's main man. Those who are creeped out have good reason to be.

[SayitAintSo]

25. What's this "we" s*%t ...They took themselves out.....n/t

[BanTheGOP]

29. We had to hound the press...

...for their crimes or mistakes to have any traction. The republicans are notorious for not getting their dirty laundry vetted, and we have to insure that we take them out when possible, like we are doing to Palin day in and day out.

[tom_paine]

20. Loyal Bushies are SOOOOO simpleminded. They needed a woman or person of color, simple as that.

Since there are only about a dozen or so of those in the Loyal Bushie Party (exaggerating only slightly for comic effect) it seems that every Repubic who had a vagina or a tan was called.

Which probably didn't take long. Wish I had a phone list that short to get through when I was calling for Obama last month. I could have knocked off early and bought a :beer:

[yellowcanine]

26. Hmm. Looks as if the Repubs may be about to put all of their eggs into the Bobby Jindal basket.

Forget Sarah Palin. Run Bobby as the VP with someone like Romney as sacrificial lambs in 2012 and then run Bobby for P in 2016.

[sofa king]

27. He might be too clever for that.

The guy's smart, and a clever opportunist as well. My guess is that he'll jump into the Presidential mix in '10 just in case the GOP can make something stick to Obama over these next two horrid, lean years. But he's not going to be anyone's sidekick.

[yellowcanine]

28. IF he can stay out of trouble in Louisiana. Not that easy. Louisiana has a long and proud history

of corruption and malfeasance at the state and local level. Lot of gambling money floating around also. Potential conflicts of interest and worse all over the place. Bobby had better watch his behind carefully.