Louisiana Governor's Race
Douglas Brinkley
Eisenhower Center for American Studies
Thursday, November 13, 2003; 10:30 a.m. ET
In Saturday gubernatorial runoff election, voters in Louisiana will choose between Republican candidate Piyush "Bobby" Jindal, a 32 year old son of Indian immigrants, and Democrat Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a 60-year-old veteran of Louisiana politics.
Who is leading in the latest polls? How are the two candidates different? What are the national implications of Saturday's outcome?
Douglas Brinkley, director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans, was online to discuss the Louisiana governor's race and Saturdays runoff election.
The transcript follows.
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Los Angeles, Calif.:
What in the world is going on in Louisiana? Two clean politicians, neither of them a white male, and most of the fuss boiling down to inexperience versus age. Is this a new trend in Louisiana politics, or is this a fluke?
Also, are the other states paying attention to Louisiana's open primary election process? Here in California, most pundits agree that Arnold would never have been able to get past a Republican primary, and yet he won the replacement election by a solid margin. Perhaps we'd all get government more representative of the people if we followed Louisiana's lead?
Douglas Brinkley: Yes, you are right. It feels good to live in a clean state - at least for a few weeks. Both Jindal and Blanco are decent human beings. Neither shows any signs of corruption or old boy power network shenanigans. Also, keep in mind that Louisiana has two smart moderate U.S. Senators - John Breaux and Mary Landrieau. Why is Louisiana different than much of the deep south? Part of it has to do with the fact that the state is predominantly Catholic.
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Wallingford, Conn.:
Dr. Brinkley,
If Bobby Jindal wins this race, does this basically assure him of some role on the national stage in the near future?
Douglas Brinkley: Absolutely. The Republican party is desperate to trot out non-white members. Jindal would probably give a prominant prime time speech at the GOP convention being held in New York in 04.
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New Orleans, La.:
Recent polls have indicated about 20 percent of voters are undecided. Historically, how have these voters influenced elections? Do they typically swing toward one party or the other, or do they stay home?
Douglas Brinkley: Historically they stay home, but this is not a normal election. According to a south Eastern Louisiana university poll 24 percent of Democrats have crossed over to support the Republican Jindal. A University of New Orleans shows that 6 percent of Republicans are crossing over to Blanco. The point is not everybody is voting along straight party line.
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Alexandria, Va.:
What are the latest polls?
Douglas Brinkley: It is essentially a dead heat. There are two different important polls - one giving Jindal a slight edge, the other giving it to Blanco. It is a down to the wire election.
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Harrisburg, Ill.:
We're used to certain interest groups always backing certain parties. I wonder if there have been any surprising crossovers in Louisiana: groups that usually back Democrats getting behind Mr. Jindal, or groups that usually back Republicans getting behind Ms. Blanco?
Douglas Brinkley: The great surprise has been the number of African-Americans that have left the Democratic party and are voting for Jindal. In addition it was quite shocking when the African-American mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin abandoned the Democratic Party to endorse the GOP Jindal. I think some old boy state's rights anti-black types are switching over to Blanco because they don't want to see an Indian-American as governor.
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Somewhere, USA:
What sort of turnout is being projected for Saturday? Who will benefit from a high voter showing?
Douglas Brinkley: The turnout is supposed to be very good. The general consensus is that the larger the turnout the better for Blanco, particularly if the turnout is in New Orleans.
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Ogden, Utah:
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is a Republican and by some measures the front runner in this race. As the son of Indian immigrants, what does this say about the Republican Party's attempts to reach out to voters who are not traditionally associated with the Republican party?
Douglas Brinkley: It is a wonderful example of what President Bush called compassionate conservatism - the opening up of the GOP to a more diverse group of people. Jindal had previously served as President Bush's as Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He also led the statewide commission on Medicare and is a Rhodes scholar. Oddly he graduated from Brown University with a major in biology. Today he remains a member of the board of trusties at Brown. He is only 32 years old, so he truly is a rising star in the Republican Party.
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Washington, D.C.:
I find it surprising that Bobby Jindal could be the first Indian American governor of any U.S state -- especially a southern state.
How has his strong national funding via a typically Democratic ethnicity -- Indian Americans -- affected his perceptions in the conservative southern state? Also has his genius status -- as dubbed by the media -- helped or hurt him among the Louisiana voters?
Douglas Brinkley: The national media attention has helped him. What he has going for him, besides a deep intelligence, is the real feeling that he is not part of the political system. He is seen as a numbers cruncher and somebody who has excellent contacts with Fortune 500 Companies. The big hope is that Jindal will attract new business with the state.
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Dauphin Island, Ala.:
Since moving back to South after an absence of over 30 years, it seems to me that the a good chunk of new Republicans in the South, are just second generation segregationist Democrats. They do not vote for their future, but for a past long gone. How does Jindal's philosophy fit into this segment of Republican voters in Louisiana.
Douglas Brinkley: That is a good question.
Sometimes even segregationists put economic matters first. And because Gov. foster has embraced Jindal many old time segregationists are clinging to conservatism over liberalism no matter what the race of the messenger. I think the diehard racists that are voting for Jindal see him as a puppet of Gov. Foster.
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Toronto, Ontario:
I read that both candidates are fairly conservative. Has either been endorsed by the NRA or Right-to-life groups?
Douglas Brinkley: Yes -- Bobby Jindal has. Blanco is not that conservative. I would call her a moderate Democrat.
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Boston, Mass.:
The National Polls have George Bush's popularity falling, yet if the polls are correct, the GOP will have won four governors races in the last month. Why has the GOP been able to win these elections?
Douglas Brinkley: In each of the states where the governors won, they had the better candidates. They were better organized, more name recognition and were more effective in fundraising.
Louisiana is a tie - so it may break that trend. I think these governor's elections have very little to do with what is happening in Washington, D.C. - I wouldn't make that connection.
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Arlington, Va.:
How has Louisiana's African-American population responded to Jindal, who is both a person of color and a conservative?
Douglas Brinkley: They have embraced him very wholesomely. I was quite shocked that the Louisiana Weekly - a quite left oriented African American paper has endorsed Jindal. Clearly if Jindal wins, it will be because of the crossover vote of blacks.
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Douglas Brinkley: Never have I seen such a well-conducted campaign in Louisiana. Both candidates have behaved with dignity and constant humor. There have been some tense moments, but neither candidate has resorted to unreasonable negative advertising. I think Louisiana wins either way. Jindal will be good at balancing the budget and Blanco will help promoting tourism. Each will be good for the state.
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