Here’s another comment that excites me and will send tajitj to new heights of rhapsody!  This is a quote from Bill Kauffman in the American Conservative cited in GOP 12:

At breakfast the morn of the rally, I sat across the table from a friendly dude wearing a peace-sign T-shirt and looking like an affable old surfer. He introduced himself as Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico. Over the next day, I spent a fair amount of time chatting with Governor Johnson: mountain-climber, triathlete, vetoer of 750 bills.

He told me that he may take a shot at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 as an antiwar, anti-Fed, pro-personal liberties, slash-government-spending candidate—in other words, a Ron Paul libertarian.

This is small potatoes compared to this next story.  Dick Morris suggests in Newsmax that former Massachusetts Mitt Romney is out of serious 2012 running due to his healthcare “solution” in his home state.  I would seriously consider anything Morris says about politics.  You might not agree or feel confortable with Morris but he is a brilliant politico on the level of Machiavelli.  I respect anything he says. 

Morris also says that former Alaska Governor Palin has a way to go to be the GOP front runner:

“I think that Sarah Palin’s book sales are doing well, and I think she’s an incredible woman, but a lot of people were concerned when she resigned from the governorship of Alaska. Right now there is no front-runner…”

I think this has been a good two weeks for Governor Jindal.  He is quietly not making mistakes but being a good, competent governor of an important state.  I know he wants to run for re-election but i also know he listens to the Lord and if He says, it’s time, thne it’s time.

Ron Paul is only 8% behind Barack Obama. Is anyone else surprised by this number?

Paul is actually more popular with Democrats than either Palin, Huckabee or Romney.   He has the most undecided and has the lowest Obama percentage, according to Politics Daily:

Obama leads Mike Huckabee by 49 percent to 44 percent with 7 percent undecided; Sarah Palin by 51 percent to 43 percent with 5 percent undecided; Ron Paul by 46 percent to 38 percent with 16 percent undecided; and Mitt Romney by 48 percent to 43 percent with 9 percent undecided.

I think that this is good news for Ron Paul.  Very good news.  He is now a mainstream candidate.  Many do not know him.  They can be persuaded to support him.  I am impressed at all the video press Cong. Paul gets.  And every time he speaks, I am sure somebody somewhere says, “I like this guy.  Let me find out more.” 

Perhaps a Paul/Jindal ticket in 2012?

UPDATE:  Cong. Paul’s Audit the Fed act survived a major gutting in committee and may go to the House floor for a vote.  The co-sponsor with Paul is Cong. Alan Grayson of Florida.  See this video.  This is of course a reason why conservatives find Paul troubling.  Thanks to Abraham, Senior Member of the Ron Paul forums for that last insight.

This is quite impressive:

Pawlenty, under the radar of D.C.’s political community, has locked up some of the key operatives who engineered then-President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign — a significant feat for a little-known Midwestern politician.

These political operatives are impressive:

Nelson initially ran Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2007 and was the national political director on the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004. Taylor was also a senior official on the Bush campaign and did a stint as White House political director at the start of his second term. Musser ran the Republican Governors Association in 2006 and advised Romney at the outset of his 2008 White House run. Fabrizio and Mueller have also worked on GOP presidential campaigns.

Strong was a Ranger, or top Bush fundraising bundler, in 2004 and for McCain. He’s joined by a group of Minnesotans, including former Target CEO Bob Ulrich, GOP strategist Jeff Larson and TCF Financial Corp. CEO Bill Cooper.

There’s more of interest, including a new PAC:

And in formally opening his political action committee, Freedom First, Thursday, Pawlenty will also announce two co-chairmen, William Strong, a Morgan Stanley vice chairman, and former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), both of whom are heavyweight GOP figures, along with a list of prominent Minnesota donors.

Finally, an interesting discussion of Pawlenty’s weaknesses.

Yet Pawlenty lacks a few important strengths that some of his possible opponents enjoy. He doesn’t have the ability to finance his own campaign as Romney does, nor does he maintain anything close to the former presidential hopeful’s donor and grass-roots base. He lacks Huckabee’s natural hold on social conservatives. And he’s never going to enjoy a fervent following like the one Palin can point to.

It’s also not entirely clear what Pawlenty’s signature issues will be, since there is no overarching accomplishment in St. Paul that he could clearly run on.

My take on this is that Jonathan Martin is right.  However, being governor of a blue state for eight years, no major scandal that I know of, and working with the other party, will help Pawlenty.  The fact he has been in St. Paul for eight years is an overarching accomplishment.  Minnesotans are among the most savvy voters and political activists in the country.  Pawlenty could conceivably carry Minnesota for the GOP (the 2000 and 2004 elections were reasonably close and I think a few local pride votes could be enough) and may have an impact on neighboring Wisconsin (also has been close, too in 2000 and 2004) and maybe even Iowa.

One more thing:  Pawlenty has been to Virginia to help our next Governor, Bob McDonnell!  (So has Governor Jindal – twice)  You can’t  be a serious contender if you haven’t helped Bob yet!  Look at this list (thanks to GOP 12):

With Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour scheduled to stop in Virginia Beach and Richmond to rally VA Gov candidate, Bob McDonnell, The Richmond Report asks the question: When’s Sarah Palin going to show up?

After all, the list of Stumpers for Bob, so far includes Jindal, Rudy, Steele, Fred Thompson, Romney, Huckabee, and McCain.

I’ll watch for Gov. Palin.

The article by Peter Wehner and Michael Gerson examines the GOP fall and institutional reasons why Democrats have some advantages: 

Over the past five presidential elections, Brownstein writes, Democrats have built a “blue wall” consisting of 18 states and the District of Columbia; these account for fully 90 percent of the electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

The solution is to turn to innovative new leaders (emphasis added):

As it happens, the GOP has successful reformers to whom it can look to and learn from, including popular governors or former governors like Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty, Bobby Jindal, and Jeb Bush.

Wehner and Gerson also discuss the issue of immigration: 

No national party can hope to succeed in the long run without broad support among immigrants and the children of immigrants—particularly, these days, Hispanics and Asian Americans.

Governor Jindal’s immigrant, Asian-American background and record of accomplishment will be attractive to many people, without sacrificing his staunch conservatism.  Wehner and Gerson restate the point:

To succeed, the Republican argument requires communicating that growing ethnic diversity does not undermine but rather strengthens the American ideal.

This Governor Jindal can do.  He also has stated (in that infamous speech that nobody liked but me!) that government tends to stifle innovation and drive.  Wehner and Gerson agree this issue is crucial for Republicans:

It is, in, fact, vital for Republican leaders to press the case for economic growth in general. Americans achieve their dreams not through the redistribution of wealth but through the creation of wealth.

Governor Jindal can speak to another issue important to Wehner and Gerson – social justice:

In this respect, Republicans would be well advised here to borrow a page from David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith in their revival of the British Conservative party. These leaders have emphasized a range of issues that directly influence the quality of life in community: homelessness, addiction, prison reform, family breakdown, long-term unemployment.

I would suggest that as Governor of Louisiana, Jindal has made major changes that will improve the quality of life:  Ethics reform, encouragement of businesses to come to the state, prison reform, tax reform.  Jindal helped bring back a chicken processing plant to Monroe.  Even less obvious issues like speed traps are part of this new thinking.  Of course Louisiana has to be concerned about weather-related preparedness.  I think we’ll see more innovation. 

Finally, Wehner and Gerson speak of returning the GOP to what Senator Moynihan called a “party of ideas.” 

In the 1980s, one of the Republican party’s main sources of attraction to younger conservatives—we are thinking of our younger selves, among legions of others—was its growing reputation for intellectual vitality. “Of a sudden,” wrote Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, in 1981, “the GOP has become a party of ideas.” Restoring that reputation, to be earned now as then through carefully argued and compellingly articulated programs of reform, is a central challenge.

Governor Jindal clearly has the intellectual capital to enage that debate.  He can shape the debate on many issues.  I believe that he will be a great candidate and if elected a great President – whether in 2012 or beyond. 

Finally, there are other leaders with ideas in the Republican Party.  Gov. Mitch Daniels has a stellar record in Indiana and Governor Pawlenty likewise in Minnesota (a blue state that can and does elect conservatives).  Former Governors Huckabee and Romney have must to admire.  Sarah Palin has been vilified in the press but she can be a spark for the party and cna connect with ordinary people – the exact reason so many liberals are afraid of her.  There are others in Congress and state houses with new ideas.   Finally, Congressman Ron Paul, my other political hero, has changed the field of play for ideas and expanded the GOP’s potential reach. 

Having said that, I still believe that Governor Jindal may be the answer to a party looking for new ideas and a new package attractive to Republicans, many independents and conservative Democrats.  Keep an eye on Louisiana.

We will not suspend this blog.  We are unapologetic that Governor Jindal is a wonderful candidate for the White House.  We do not believe this blog is a distraction to the Governor.  I have been trying to promote items and issues that show the Governor in his best light and we will continue to do that.  Governor Jindal does not need to run for President to do that.  He will be remembered in history as the governor of Louisiana who ended the Huey Long era in that state.  He may well need eight years to do that. 

But I personally believe that God called men and women to serve at crisis times in American history.  Look at men like Harry Truman – seemingly coming from nowhere to serve the nation with great distinction.  With Senator Ensign and Governor Sanford’s scandals seemingly taking them out of contention and Governor Palin seemingly suspending national ambitions for a time (I STILL think she’ll be a FOX News evening anchor shortly; my advice for the FOX anchor with the lowest ratings – better get them up now!) that makes it all the more possible that it may be the time for national service.

Jindal is an authority on health care.  It is likely that Obamacare will fail or pass in a limited manner.  Either way, that is an important issue.  There is cap and trade that may be the Waterloo for the liberals.  Obama’s popularity is down, in some states below fifty percent.  (Of course it is still early! I thank the Ace of Spades HQ for that entry!)

My suggestion for the Jindal PAC supporters – go to the Internet – like Ron Paul did.  Form Jindal meet up groups and there are tens of pro-Jindal Facebook groups already.  Start something official – Jindal for Lousiana’s Future.  Promote the Governor.  The time may come.   Perhaps persuade the Governor that it is great for Louisiana for him to help other GOP candidates.  Governor Palin has SarahPAC, as I said in an earlier blog entry, Governor Pawlenty may start a non-profit orgnaization to promote his views and issues.  Governor Jindal might be legally able to do the same.   

We will continue to promote the Governor and also comment on 2012.  Jindal could always be the VP candidate as well as run for President.  If Dan Kyle wants to be a guest blogger here – write us something and send it to us! 

We’ll see you at an election near you!  Don’t forget to help the local/state candidates in your area while we await 2012 or 2016!

“My reaction:  Reports of her political death are greatly exaggerated.  Yes, resigning as governor is high risk, and, yes, the Left’s attacks on her have been savage enough to drive almost anyone out of office.  But I don’t believe she’s running from a fight.  This move frees her up to campaign in the lower 48 states, build a top notch political organization and improve her issue development work.  In six months we will know whether the gamble worked, but I for one am hoping it does. “

The Democrats are saying it is irresponsible.  Jonathan Martin quotes a DNC spokesman to that effect. 

My take is that Alaska appears to have ethics and related laws that may hurt her if she openly seeks the Presidency.  There is a law forbidding the governor from any outside work.  Palin may have a TV gig ready.  She has a book deal and can now promote it on her own dime. 

I think  she’s still running.  But regardless, its Jindal or Paul for me in 2012! 

UPDATE! 

I still think this is a deck-clearing for a book tour and possibly a TV show.  That speculation is shared by RealClearPolitics’ Roger Stone:

“The obvious place for Palin to re-tool her political image is FOX television. FOX’s viewers are Palin’s potential voters. It is ironic that FOX president Roger Ailes is the genius TV producer who erased candidate Nixon’s flaws in a controlled environment and facilitated the greatest political comeback in American history, is at the helm at FOX.

As Bill Kristol, the only DC based analyst who “gets it” said the move also frees Palin to “write her book, give speeches, travel the country, and educate herself on some issues.” It also frees her to build a net work of fundraisers and supporters throughout the country – many of whom will be her TV viewers.

Palin will also be more in demand as a dinner speaker, fundraiser and campaigner than any other Republican in 2011. She can suspend her TV career and will have a chance to collect countless political IOUs along the way, campaigning for candidates and raising them money and hitting the State Republican dinner circuit. Demand for the “New Palin” will only increase.

Palin’s “star-power,” charisma, presence and genuineness can not be discounted. No one can discount her moxie, her energy and her inspirational qualities. Her anti-elite middle-class message can have resonance again when the Obama economic polices likely fail. The Ivy leaguers and Hollywood crowd so high on Obama may be riding for a fall. The media has unfairly labeled her as “dumb.” All she must do is disprove this…and she can have sixty minutes each week to do it.”

Sending www.jindal2012blog.com constitutes permission to show the plates or other sign of support for Gov. Jindal in 2012 and your name but not address etc. (unless you ask me not to!).

It has been my theory that if the 2012 election is hopelessly out of reach that Gov. Jindal will not run and wait for 2016 (wonder how easy it is to change a blog name?) but that Gov. Palin will be encouraged to run so the GOP can have the first woman nominee.  But if the 2012 election is contested, Jindal will run and he can win the nomination and the election.  Of course, former Gov. Romney will try to have something to say about it, too.  Maybe Gov. Pawlenty as well. 

I suggest that the liberal/radical attacks on Governor Palin can backfire.  Camille Pagila had a great column in Salon in November on the Sarah Palin controversy.  Pagila says:

Liberal Democrats are going to wake up from their sadomasochistic, anti-Palin orgy with a very big hangover. The evil genie released during this sorry episode will not so easily go back into its bottle.

Isn’t she right?  There’s more:

I like Sarah Palin, and I’ve heartily enjoyed her arrival on the national stage. As a career classroom teacher, I can see how smart she is — and quite frankly, I think the people who don’t see it are the stupid ones, wrapped in the fuzzy mummy-gauze of their own worn-out partisan dogma. So she doesn’t speak the King’s English — big whoop! There is a powerful clarity of consciousness in her eyes. She uses language with the jumps, breaks and rippling momentum of a be-bop saxophonist. I stand on what I said (as a staunch pro-choice advocate) in my last two columns — that Palin as a pro-life wife, mother and ambitious professional represents the next big shift in feminism. Pro-life women will save feminism by expanding it, particularly into the more traditional Third World.

That is what the Palin haters fear.  A populist conservative mother who will connect with the American People.  While I prefer Gov. Jindal, if they keep it up, they’ll be watching the inauguration of President Palin in 2013. 

Sandy