The title is the nod to the extremely worldly (but alas extremely popular) movie, “Revenge of the Nerds”, but this may be the year of the nerd, dork, wonk, etc.  A friend advised me that DC is “Hollywood for ugly people” (a nod to yet another movie:  Because Washington is Hollywood for Ugly People) but regardless, The thing that Jindal, Ryan and Daniels bring to the table is an intense intellectual curiosity and a desire to solve problems. 

Cong. Ryan has a plan to get the nation out of debt and protect Medicare and Social Security.  Shawn Tully at Fortune has a useful synopsis of the plan and the man.  It’s not without some loss of benefits but that is part of the necessary sacrifice.  He wants to reform the tax system to have a choice – the regular tax return or a simplified tax return at either 10 or 25% with no deductions.  Even the CBO admits the Ryan plan will work.  But, Speaker Pelosi criticized it (Yes, that’s may be best evidence Ryan’s on the right track) as hurting the elderly:

Obama noted that Ryan had “made a serious proposal” to rein in the deficit and then praised him for at least addressing entitlement spending. Following those apparently peaceful words, Democrats launched a withering assault over the next three days as budget director Peter Orszag, Democratic Congressional Campaign chairman Chris Van Hollen, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all pummeled Ryan for threatening the safety net for the elderly and providing tax breaks for the rich.

Ryan elected to take on the President at the Health Care Summit:

Ryan got his chance to confront the President at the health-care summit Feb. 25. Seated across from Obama, Ryan addressed him directly with a six-minute, numbers-laden, wonkish analysis of the Senate bill that contradicted the administration’s pledge that the plan wouldn’t add to the mountainous deficit.

Ryan correctly stated that the bill projects that Medicare will lower reimbursements to doctors by $371 billion over the next 10 years, yet Congress would cancel those cuts in a separate bill, all part of an attempt to mask the true size of future deficits through “gimmicks and smoke and mirrors.” Obama steered the discussion away from Ryan’s numbers, and the White House hasn’t challenged his analysis.

The nerdy fun seems to be spreading to candidates.  Rick Snyder is a GOP candidate for Governor of Michigan.  His “One Tough Nerd” ad drew chuckles but also increased his polling numbers from less than 1 percent to 12 percent.  RCP explains this in the nerds article:

Snyder has gone from political zero (polling at 3 percent) to a potential-nerd hero. The ad is one big reason. And this story gets nerdier.

The Michigan firm EPIC-MRA recently polled likely primary voters. Only the contenders’ names were first read. Snyder placed third among the GOP candidates, at 12 percent. Then pollsters read candidates brief biography. The Gateway geek rose 10 points and took second place. Among “strong Republicans,” Snyder’s biography moved him from third to first place.

Here’s the ad.  Judge for yourself.  I like Snyder (I also like Michigan, too) and think maybe the issue is we need competence not flashiness.

The Times-Picayune reports that Jindal and two of his cabinet officials (The Secretary of the Department of Human Resources and the Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development) have filed comments opposing the EPA finding. 

A highlight from the T-P article:

In his letter, Jindal said the proposed rules “will have a dramatic, chilling effect on the refining and production capability of our state” and that cost of increased regulation will reduce the chances that companies will create jobs. Jindal said the EPA’s proposed rule could force manufacturers to move operations overseas, harming the national economy, and might ultimately harm the environment if those destinations have less stringent environmental regulations.

I am pleased to see this sort of stand.  This is good news.

Stephen Gordon in his blog on the Next Right  site has a fascinating article on how the GOP can reach the tea partiers.  A few observations:

Gordon suggests that many of the tea partiers are influenced by Cong. Paul and his movement:

Considering that a considerable portion of Tea Party organizers have ties to the Ron Paul movement, this should come as no surprise.

The tea party movement may have had its origin in the Paul 2008 campaign.  The second Trevor Lyman “money bomb” was scheduled for December 16, 2007 – the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.   It raised over $6,000,000!

But, Gordon observes that there is another group in the GOP tent, what he calls the “Whole Foods, South Park and Starbucks” Republican.  They are fiscally conservative but not necessarily in favor of the agenda of the social conservatives:

Although the GOP ignored them (to their misfortune) in 2006 and 2008, there is a large and growing bloc of voters who are fiscally conservative but are turned off by some of the more extreme social conservatism (Internet gambling bans, Terri Schiavo case, etc.) associated with the Republican Party.

I do agree that the Terri Schiavo case was a PR disaster for the GOP leaders.  They came off as interfering in a personal decision.  While the specific facts might have been an injustice and I have grave concerns about starving a living human being by court order, I also see the personal, family, privacy side of this.  I suggest suburban women fled the GOP in droves in large part due to this.  Besides, the federal government should not be passing special laws to benefit one person.  Paul voted no on the Schiavo bill. 

Back to Gordon:  So who are they, according to Gordon?  A surprising answer:

Like the Tea Party movement, there are a lot of Ron Paul supporters in this demographic group.

So, a libertarian message for 2012?  Perhaps so according to Gordon:

A candidate who can appeal to more traditional Republicans, the Tea Party crowd and Whole Foods Republicans could create a mandate not seen since 2004 or the Reagan years.

Perhaps, we need a candidate who can appeal to both the tea parties and the Whole Foods Republicans.  You have to be sincere and have real answers.  Maybe here (cited by Gordon) is an idea for a proposed (I suspect Sen. DeMint is not nominating himself) candidate: 

Freedom will mean different things to different Republicans, but it can tether a diverse coalition to inalienable principles. Republicans can welcome a vigorous debate about legalized abortion or same-sex marriage; but we should be able to agree that social policies should be set through a democratic process, not by unelected judges. Our party benefits from national-security debates; but Republicans can start from the premise that the U.S. is an exceptional nation and force for good in history. We can argue about how to rein in the federal Leviathan; but we should agree that centralized government infringes on individual liberty and that problems are best solved by the people or the government closest to them.

We’ll just wait and see.  I suggest that if Governor Jindal could find a principled way to shift his direction just a bit toward the Ron Paul side, he’d be a serious contender for that proposed candidacy Sen. DeMint suggests.

Here is the Post’s analysis on Jindal:

If Barbour and Daniels form the ranks of old pros, there are young pros rising within the ranks. The youngest is Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has been on a fast track all his adult life. He had a terrible introduction to the nation this year when he was picked to give the GOP response to Obama’s first speech as president to a joint session of Congress.

But appearances can be deceiving. Jindal has a considerable intellect and a command of many of the policy issues that will be front and center in the next few years, including health care and energy. Whether he can prove himself on a national stage still isn’t known, but he could give Republicans fresh ideas and a platform from which to test them.

Although the Speech was mentioned (Boo!), it was admitted that Gov. Jindal is smart and has some experience/training in hot-button political issues such as health care and energy.  I think Jindal’s personal energy and accomplishments in Louisiana will help him. 

Another pro-Jindal item is his “fast-track” resume.  This is the main reason I am fascinated with Governor Jindal.  Remember that list of potential 2012 GOP Presidential candidates several months ago?  the one with the best resume (state cabinet official, university system president, federal sub-cabinet, Congress and governor) is the youngest one:  Bobby Jindal. 

I’ll never forget the day – about 2002 or so when I first found Cong. Paul.  He was against the war in Kosovo and I soon read about his pro-financial privacy and anti Patriot Act and money laundering laws.  I could hardly believe it.  I knew he was right; I figured Cong. Paul would always be one of those men or women in politics who was right but seldom effective. 

I had just offered to help out for the 2008 Presidential campaign of Jim Gilmore (All right, stop laughing!  Governor Gilmore is a very intelligent politician who knows about the three T’s important to governing:  Technology, Taxes, and Terrorism.  He just had utterly insufficient national name recognition and no way to get it.) in early 2007 when I read the bottom of one of the cable news networks that Cong. Ron Paul was setting up an exploratory committee to run for President.  I said – if Gilmore says no, I’m going for Paul!  I did not get an answer from Governor Gilmore so I switched to Paul. 

Now I admire Governor Jindal for very different reasons than I admire Cong. Paul.  Gov. Jindal has a tremendous record of achievement and is a clear intellectual who wants to solve political problems.  He is willing to look outside the box.  He is a staunch conservative and open believer in Christ.  Jindal is a leader of strong integrity.  Cong. Paul appeals to the libertarian side of me.  He also is a staunch conservative and Christian, too.  He is also not going to change position for political gain.  It’s a hard choice.  Maybe the answer is:  Paul/Jindal 2012!

Here is the article from Channel 9 WAFB.  A highlight:

“He and the president have gotten along well when they have encountered each other,” Engster said. “It was President Obama who said he was going to be a bi-partisan president. He’s (Jindal) a likeable person and someone I think the president is comfortable having in his presence.”

This is a video from the same station. 

Here’s the NOLA coverage.  

Here’s a great article from CNN International. 

No word on any special moments for the Governor.  Many prominent Indian-Americans were invited.

“This is a first-of-its-kind project here in Louisiana, and it ties together two critical areas for our state—economic development and energy exploration,” says Gov. Bobby Jindal, who touted the project in late May along with U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy and Denbury [Resources] officials.

I am sure that Governor Jindal’s part was more cheerleader than participant; however, the new sense that Louisiana is in the business game to play – ethics laws and more business-friendly taxes surely all helped out.  The post-Gustav effort also counts, too.  Governor Jindal is a leader our nation needs desperately.

Now the loyal supporters of Governor Jindal can join me in whatever the year brings! 

NOLA.com reports that the Saints defense has not been able to pick off Drew Brees yet.  This may be good news in that Brees is pretty good on offense – OR it may be bad news that the defense needs work still.  The Saints did beef up the defense with Darren Sharper at safety and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.  Sharper was quoted like this:

“He’s tough to get. He’s tough to get,” said Sharper, the NFL’s active leader in career interceptions with 54. “He’s a quarterback that’s not going to throw the ball up and just give you a chance too many times by making a mistake. So the first guy that gets him, he’ll definitely be able to say he has a little one-up on the rest of us guys.”

Now did I also tell you I like Popeye’s too?  There’s a new Popeye’s down the street – the Louisiana tenders are great with the special sweet and sour cajin flavorings.  Special comment for the first wiseacre who quips that if I like Governor Jindal, the Saints and Popeye’s so much I should move to Louisiana!  I also like Dixieland jazz, too.

Most of my readers know that Cao is the unlikely winner over indicted Democrat William Jefferson for the overwhelmingly Democratic district in the election in December.   Cao is a very interesting person.  A lot like Governor Jindal:  Both Catholic, Cao studied to be a Jesuit priest, but decided to pursue the law instead.  His bachelor’s degree is in physics and his master’s in philosophy.  He is the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to Congress. 

Governor Jindal placed some political capital on the line in endorsing Cao.  Scorecard reported:

Popular Gov. Bobby Jindal endorsed Cao on Thursday, just two days before the election.  He wouldn’t have put his political credibility on the line if he thought Cao had no chance of winning.

Cao may actually be fairly conservative:  He voted against the stimulus, is reported to be anti-abortion and said to have voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Act (that makes it easier to sue employers by restarting the statute of limitations with every pay check for equal pay claims) but the original source is not clear. 

The reason I write about Cao is that National Journal reported that Cao is the most endangered incumbent in Congress.  (I read this on the Real Clear Politics blog.)  That is probably right but perhaps the Governor could come to the rescue again.  Find out how much help Cao needs – both financially and politically – and help him in 2010.  There are two persons who argue that Cao is winnable. 

This will give the Governor some political capital and bolster his reform credentials.  It will help any future national campaign without committing him to actually run in 2012.  If it is finally determined Cao is unwinnable, Jindal can bow out gracefully.

“As a result of Jindal’s initiative, Louisiana has rocketed to the top of the Center’s rankings, with 94.5 points, earning the top slot among all 50 states.”

Huey Long may be spinning in his grave but the people of Louisiana will benefit. 

The report did however state that it was not yet possible to verify enforcement and there are legitimate issues here.  But this is not Jindal’s fault (emphasis mine):

“And the new laws included a provision — not part of Jindal’s original proposals on the campaign trail — that stripped the board of its enforcement powers and transferred authority to a newly-created panel of administrative judges, causing the board’s members to resign in protest last June. ”

Perhaps this can be repaired in future sessions of the legislature.  But this is a great step.

BTW, my home state Virginia flunked. 

“Virginia, for example, placed 8th in 1999, but has fallen to 31st place, mostly because other states made improvements while Virginia’s ethics laws remained essentially unchanged. Virginia state legislators must fill out a statement of economic interest annually and must disclose outside employment or investment information. But the state lacks the necessary oversight to ensure that the forms are filled out correctly. While other states have made efforts to ensure accuracy, often with the creation of an independent commission, Virginia’s legislators are mostly left to police themselves.”

Maybe future Governor McDonnell can take a page from the Governor Jindal book!