The shadow of Sarah Palin haunts Mitt Romney's selection process for Vice President. You can see this when Politico reports that Romney's campaign hopes to eventually select an “incredibly boring white guy” to balance out the ticket.
Now I happen to think that many of the potentially "boring" picks are actually supremely competent and would be an asset in a Romney administration. Rob Portman and Mitch Daniels in particular bring a lot of positive attributes to the table.
But if the GOP wanted to show that it represents all of America, and that it supports merit and not identity politics (see: Sarah Palin) then how about selecting Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal? The case for Jindal has been made before and now the argument is joined by Grover Norquist:
Romney would do well to have a wing man who can astutely explain the flaws in President Barack Obama’s policies and lay out the GOP’s innovative, pro-growth alternatives. There are many attractive prospects out there, but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal can do not just all that, he has already implemented the sort of bold reforms at the state level that are now desperately needed at the federal level.
Education could be the No. 1 civil rights issue of our time and has major implications for the nation’s future. When it comes to education reform, Obama has offered gimmickry, with contests and calls to throw more money at the problem, lest he upset the teachers union bosses who help bankroll Democratic campaigns.
Jindal, in stark contrast, last month signed one of the most significant school choice bills in U.S. history. It allows 380,000 students from low- and middle-income households across Louisiana to escape substandard schools. Sadly, Obama’s 2013 budget would trap 1,600 low-income Washington, D.C., children in failing schools by ending the District’s successful and popular school voucher program. Students in the D.C. voucher program have a 91 percent graduation rate, compared with 55 percent for union-run D.C. public schools. Meanwhile, Jindal just created the nation’s second-largest school voucher program, second only to the one Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed last year.
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Jindal’s constituents have suffered grave economic consequences from the Gulf drilling moratorium ordered by the Obama administration in 2010 — and the de facto moratorium that continues today. Because of Obama’s politically motivated — and scientifically unjustified — moratorium, 50 percent of Louisiana offshore supply and service industry companies have had to lay off employees; 46 percent have moved all or part of their operations out of the Gulf, and 41 percent are not making a profit, according to a recent Greater New Orleans Inc., study. Roughly 39 percent of employers surveyed in this report had to cut hours and salaries to avoid layoffs, some by as much as 40 percent.
Obama likes to demonize large corporations and Big Oil. Yet 98 percent of Louisiana companies, including many energy firms, are small businesses. More than 1,777 small businesses with more than $4 billion in revenue are part of Louisiana’s oil and gas industry. Jindal can attest based on firsthand knowledge that it is small businesses that are being hit hardest by the White House’s anti-energy agenda.