If Only A Proven, Conservative Governor Were Running For The GOP Nomination. Oh Wait, There Is.

The estimable Dan McLaughlin (aka @Baseballcrank) would like a few minutes of your time to remind you there's someone running who checks off damn near all the boxes conservatives always say they are looking for.

Bobby Jindal.

Jindal has stood for both conservative principle and conservative practice, in ways both substantive and symbolic, across many other areas beyond the budget, often taking on difficult uphill fights. He refused to form a state Obamacare exchange or expand Medicaid, choices many other Governors are now wishing they had made. In the immediate aftermath of the 2012 election, he promoted a new idea – defusing fights over government-funded birth control by selling the birth control pill over the counter to reduce its cost – which has since been adopted by many Republican candidates and provided the blueprint for Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) 64%‘s victory in Colorado over the “War on Women” campaign waged by Mark Udall.

...

Jindal isn’t just running on record and rhetoric; he’s also running on the most detailed policy agenda of any candidate in the race. Early last year, he rolled out a thorough alternative to Obamacare – a distinctly better and more comprehensive plan than anything produced by his rivals, and on which none of his opponents has yet taken up his challenge for a one-on-one healthcare debate. He’s proposed a forward-looking energy plan, a pro-growth tax plan that would abolish the corporate tax and slash rates, a choice-based education plan modeled on his Louisiana reforms, a plan to rebuild and reorient our national defense, and a plan to crack down hard on “sanctuary cities” that try to nullify federal immigration law. Like Rubio and Cruz, Jindal is a son of immigrants who understands both the immigrant experience and the American Dream; he has been insistent that with the blessings of immigration comes a responsibility to assimilate into American culture. Jindal’s record in Louisiana demonstrates vividly that he will go to the mat for all these proposals.

There's more. A lot more. Dan's a lawyer and he makes a strong and comprehensive case for his client here. Take some time and read it all.

Yes, Jindal is a long shot at this point. And yes, you will find things you disagree with but on balance I think it will be hard to find a candidate that combines experience and a willingness to take on the entrenched powers (in the party and the government) than Jindal.

posted by DrewM. at 11:23 AM

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