Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal announced today that he’ll be joining the already very crowded field of contenders for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
The 44-year-old candidate will make a speech for supporters in New Orleans this afternoon, but he’s already thrown his hat in the ring via a message on his website that was posted just moments ago.
Jindal is Louisiana’s first non-white governor since Reconstruction, and he became the nation’s only Indian-American governor when he took office in 2008.
Despite his successes, however, Jindal might be best known to the nation for his memorably awkward response to the 2009 State of the Union Address, as well as for his state’s staggering budget deficit.
While his approval rating has declined steadily throughout his second term as governor, Jindal has attempted to endear himself to Louisiana right-wingers by adopting increasingly conservative stances on social issues, converting from Hinduism to Roman Catholicism, and embracing the state’s unique cultural traditions.
Last year, Jindal even made a guest appearance on Duck Dynasty and has spoken of his fondness for the series and the powerful Robertson family on several occasions since.
But despite his best efforts to portray himself as an average red-stater who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, Jindal may well be doomed by his unpopularity in his home state, and pundits are already declaring his campaign dead in the water.
“I don’t think anybody in Louisiana thinks he can win,” says Roy Fletcher, a Republican political consultant in Baton Rouge. “It’s a real, real long shot.”
Yes, the odds don’t look great for this once-rising star of the GOP, but hey, at least he has a better chance than Donald Trump! Right? Please tell us he has a better chance than Trump!