In lieu of Hurricane Gustav, luck evades John McCain once again in his
political bid to win national office, namely, the presidency of the
United States. No, I'm not crazy.
Here is
what I mean. Imagine if Senator McCain had done the responsible thing
and followed his own mantra of "country first" (as in national security
first) by selecting Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal as his running mate for
the 2008 presidential campaign. With the onset of Gustav, which has
currently stolen the media spotlight from Senator McCain, the
presidential candidate would have still been in the news by proxy, as
Gov. Jindal manages arrangements for the evacuation of some 2 million
people, considered the largest evacuation in US history.
This
governor gets an A+ for his excellent display of rare leadership skill
thus far, as he matches the storm's threat with an intensity of
preparedness. What a contrast to the pathetic leaders that mishandled
things during Hurricane Katrina three years ago! Botched evacuations.
Looting. Two thousand dead bodies. One hundred dead in a nursing home.
People stranded on roof tops. And the barrage of blame exchange among
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the good folk at
FEMA, and President Bush (as though he had anything to do with the
whole thing). Katrina became another divider of the United States. Sad indeed.
But not this time. Gov. Jindal has performed magnificently in the wake
of Gustav. On the Louisiana governor's website, we find headlines like...
- "Governor
Jindal's 5 PM Update on Hurricane Gustav Preparedness Efforts,
Announces 4 AM Contraflow Across South LA and School Closures"
- "Governor Bobby Jindal Issues Executive Order on Licensed Bed Capacity for Nursing Homes"
- "Governor Bobby Jindal Issues Executive Order Declaring Public Health Emergency"
In every way, the able governor is right on top of things. Even if the
levees break again and New Orleans experiences a Katrina encore, Gov.
Jindal will come out looking spic and span, not the man to blame for
any damages or loss of life.
Keep an eye on this incredible leader, America. He is my pick for the
next star on America's political stage. The Republicans have better hug
this man tightly before he switches party. Just kidding.
Now, if McCain had selected Jindal, who was clearly on the senator's
short list, rather than the virtually unknown Gov. Palin of Alaska, a
small state of about 670,000 people, the senator would still be much in
the news in a big. The Bobby Jindal effect would have lifted the McCain
campaign to that level of truly "experienced leadership" right before
the eyes of a watching nation. Better yet, the McCain campaign would be
very much a part of the headlines by virtue of Gov. Jindal's
involvement in managing Gustav. Is Mr. John McCain kicking himself or
what?
If John McCain were a fisherman, Bobby Jindal would have been the big
one that got away. With his Gustav performance, Bobby Jindal would have
lifted the McCain team high above the storm and flood waters, and may
be, even all the way to the White House. And to think that Mr. McCain
would have still gotten all the conservatism he could have wanted with
Gov. Jindal by his side only serves to magnify the big miss on the
Senator's part.
Oh, the latest Gov. Palin baggage. The woman who first got introduced to America as a pure conservative now has, well, a minor stain, in today's moral climate, with a pregnant 17-year-old daughter. Never mind, the Palin family said the pregnant teenager will marry the father of her child. That's the moral fix, I guess - the Christian thing to do. OK? Wow, playing the morally conservative card is not so easy after all. It's more than being staunchly pro-life. Anyway, unlike abortion, a pregnant unwed teenage still-in-high-school daughter is a private family matter, isn't it?
