[StBernard] Bobby Jindal Ducking Another Louisiana Governor Debate Tonight

[Westley Annis]

Bobby Jindal Ducking Another Louisiana Governor Debate Tonight 

Written by: Stephen Sabludowsky 

Changing Louisiana state government after cataclysmic events such as Katrina
is no easy decision.  The storms have impacted many of us in areas such as
law enforcement, education, health care, race relationships and quite
frankly, in really every aspect government.  It has ruined many of our
lives, made us collectively poorer, and made many of us question the very
reasons for our remaining in this state.  

 

All of us should be deciding how to best deal with the future and right now,
that means voting for those with the best ideas and the best overall
abilities to carry out the leadership plans.  Along with the revamping state
government, we will be voting on a new federal government and a new
President next year.  Thus, all issues should be on the table for
discussion.

 

Tonight,  WDSU will be hosting a gubernatorial debate and, of course, the
leader of the pack, Bobby Jindal, also will be AWOL as he has been so often
in the past.  This means that he will have not allowed the people of the
state to test his ideas on Fox Network, on NBC, on any of the mass
television communication mediums so we can churn his ideas among others.
Apparently, we will have a statewide debate days before the election which
will not allow any of the candidates enough time to respond to assertions or
political landmines.  Jindal did give us the pleasure of his presence on
lowly LPB which only the real politically-focused might have watched in what
was the most stilted debate in modern times.

 

For those of you who feel that my public outrage is against Bobby Jindal,
you can continue to think this way, but you are wrong.  I would feel the
same if a Democrat was leading the gubernatorial race and played hard to
get.  Katrina and Rita and its aftermath and the rebuild require real
answers, not 32-point plans from any candidate.  Those are blue prints,
that's all.  Voters want more from their candidates.  They want to see them
discuss major issues "live" under fire, especially at a time when so much is
on the line.  

 

For months I have been urging open debates and the voters should at the
minimum watch the candidates engage each other with questions and answers.  

 

In the case of Jindal, while I recognize his talents, I am very concerned
about his unwillingness to answer questions about his own campaign
reporting, his religious views and its implications on government, and his
unwillingness to engage the very type of open government he preaches.  I am
very concerned that he is snubbing the very people he says he wants to
represent as if they matter very little.  The whole idea that he is refusing
to engage in debates tonight on NBC which forum could potentially reach
hundreds of thousands throughout the state hit so hard by the storm is the
height of insult.

 

It is incredible that he lacks the courage and backbone to test out his
ideas against the other candidates so we can see him in real action, yet,
come Election Day, it looks like we are going to act like sheep and elect
him as governor, possibly in the first round.

 

Nobody is denying that Jindal is the most polished debate master.  But
speaking at one hundred-fifty-words per minute or so does not mean one will
be a good governor.  The bottom line is that Jindal owes it to the people of
Louisiana the decency to air-out his views before he is elected to lead this
state.  I am growing weary of his ducking public forums and statewide
forums.  He is insulting the people of Louisiana.  He is taking on the quack
of a fowl politician unwilling to fly to the next level of openness.  If he
looks and smells like a duck, I am afraid, he is one and his raw cowardice
is quacking with gall.   It is a total shame that Louisiana voters do not
demand more from the man who expects to be King.

 

Attorney General

 

Yesterday, WDSU did have a mini-debate with the candidates running for
Attorney General which race has become that much more controversial due to
the Dr. Anna Pou decision and the St. Rita case.  Attorney General Foti was
under attack from his opponents Royal Alexander and Buddy Caldwell.
Alexander was questioned about a civil lawsuit against him for sexual
harassment which he asserts is bogus.  Caldwell was criticized about an
investigation by Dan Kyle.  Caldwell claims he and Dan Kyle have no
differences right now, but last week, Dan Kyle refuted Caldwell's assertion.

 

Louisiana Republican Party

On Friday, I attended a fundraiser for the Louisiana Republican Party.  Last
month, I attended a fundraiser for the Louisiana Democratic Party.  I raise
this issue because, I feel that after talking to many of the attendees, it
is important to better understand the differences between the two major
parties in Louisiana.  Without doubt, the Louisiana Republican Party has
come a long-way over the past-two decades and the late-Billy Nungesser and
Roger Villere have done wonderful jobs in garnering good candidates and
bringing more voters into the fold.   Both parties have room for
improvements.  There are very religious Democrats and Republicans, gay
Democrats and gay republicans, and government officials from both parties
who have gone astray in their marital lives (from both parties), yet who
preach family values.   Unquestionably, the Iraq war has splintered the two
parties locally and nationally.  I do wish that the Louisiana GOP would
reach out more to the African American community for the GOP's general
philosophy of "self-help" is sorely needed in a community that is deeply
religious and has been impacted by the worse elements of the Great Society
of the Sixties.  However, I also hope the future generation of Democratic
leaders would embrace the spirit that the private sector is the engine that
makes our country different.  I realize I am discussing generalities, and
individual candidates (just as publisher expand the canyons that divide),
but from what I can gather from the many party devotees, these are the areas
separating the two political parties along with a related host of issues and
the candidates will generally reflect those dichotomies.