[StBernard] Opponents to Jindal: Can We Talk?

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Wed Sep 19 18:44:42 EDT 2007


Opponents to Jindal: Can We Talk?

Criticized though he may be for not appearing at more candidate forums,
Congressman Bobby Jindal is only following the first rule of the
frontrunner's handbook, which is to spend as little time as possible in his
opponents' line of fire.

Jindal finally got around to agreeing to a third televized forum, on Oct. 3
in Shreveport. With an Oct. 17 event to be seen on New Orleans and Baton
Rouge CBS affiliates, the only chance for the whole state to see the
candidates together will be on Louisiana Public Broadcasting stations on
Sept. 27.

The League of Women Voters and a number of Fox stations across the state
tried to set up a forum using the novel format of college student body
presidents asking the questions. But Jindal passed on it.

He as also skipped over a dozen non-televized forums that his opponents have
committed to attend. Relatively few voters would see those events live, but
press reports of how candidates differ inform more than repetitious TV ads
do.

So, only three appearances before limited audiences, with only one of them
statewide, on ratings-challenged public TV at that. Not enough but seemingly
all we're going to get.

This governor's race would be more interesting and engaging to voters--some
might even realize there is an election going on--if the candidates could
exchange their ideas more in person than in position papers, which seems to
be the frontrunner's favorite medium.

Jindal has defended his stand-offish position by challenging his opponents
to first put forward their positions on issues, as he is doing with the
steady release of his multi-point policy papers. That's a dodge. Voters
looking to be informed don't need a symposium but rather to hear candidates
state and defend what they stand for.

But that's power politics, and Jindal has good reasons to play it that way.
When he does meet the competition, it will be in the role of target for
Walter Boasso, Foster Campbell and John Georges. Jindal can take care of
himself verbally one on one, but at three on one, someone can land a punch.

Even if he holds his own or out-talks the bunch, appearing as an equal with
worthy competitors does not fit Jindal's campaign strategy. This race
started last year as a referendum on Gov. Kathleen Blanco, and, though she's
long gone and Jindal's the man to beat, he doesn't want this election to
turn into a referendum on himself.

Instead, he wants to frame this election as a choice between himself and the
past. To hear his first commercials, you would think his opponent is someone
named Corruption, Incompetence and Out-of-Control Spending, who has an evil
running mate named Crime. The more that voters see that as their choice, the
harder he is to beat.

Another danger for Jindal with too much side-by-side comparison is how much
similar three of the candidates--except for Campbell--are on key issues.
They may vary some on solutions, but their shared campaign theme is that
government is broken and needs a radical top-down fix. Then it becomes a
question of character, leadership and who can get the job done. Better for
Jindal for keep the choices down to himself vs. the ghost of Edwin Edwards.

It's not like Jindal is ignoring his opposition. His supporters are relieved
to see him responding to attacks against him. When Boasso said Jindal's
$178,000 in contributions from insurance companies proved he was too cozy
with that industry, his commercials answered that Boasso, depicted as a
clown, had taken insurance money too and had voted for an industry-backed
bill to raise the minimum mandatory coverage for car insurance.

Rarely does it score points with voters to criticize the source of your
opponent's money. For starters, $178,000 out of Jindal's $7 million warchest
hardly seems out of line. And it only takes one check to Boasso from his
insurance agent for him to be accused of feeding at the same trough.

There is bound to be more such barbs exchanged in 30-second bites for the
remainder of the campaign. Yet voters are better served when candidates talk
to instead of past one another. The shame is that those conversations will
barely begin before the election ends.




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