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10-21-2007, 16:59 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Burgomaster
Join Date: 08-02-03
Location: Minneapolis
Country: 
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Bobby Jindal, first Indian governor in US
I saw that his people were campaigning heavily on WAB prior to election night...
Bobby Jindal, the first Indian-American governor elected in the United States (in a landslide victory), and will be the youngest current governor upon taking office:
Quote:
Louisiana elects first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction
- Story Highlights
- Republican Rep. Bobby Jindal, son of Indian immigrants, wins 53 percent of vote
- Nearest rivals had 18 percent, 14 percent, 13 percent of vote
- Former Oxford student lost '03 governor's race to Blanco, who didn't run in '07
- Taking office in January, 36-year-old to be nation's youngest sitting governor
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal became the nation's youngest governor and the first nonwhite to hold post in Louisiana since Reconstruction when he carried more than half the vote to defeat 11 opponents.
Jindal, the Republican 36-year-old son of Indian immigrants, had 53 percent with 625,036 votes with about 92 percent of the vote tallied. It was more than enough to win Saturday's election outright and avoid a November 17 runoff.
"My mom and dad came to this country in pursuit of the American dream. And guess what happened. They found the American Dream to be alive and well right here in Louisiana," he said to cheers and applause at his victory party.
His nearest competitors: Democrat Walter Boasso with 208,690 votes or 18 percent; Independent John Georges had 167,477 votes or 14 percent; Democrat Foster Campbell had 151,101 or 13 percent. Eight candidates divided the rest.
"I'm asking all of our supporters to get behind our new governor," Georges said in a concession speech.
The Oxford-educated Jindal had lost the governor's race four years ago to Gov. Kathleen Blanco. He won a congressional seat in conservative suburban New Orleans a year later but was widely believed to have his eye on the governor's mansion.
Blanco opted not to run for re-election after she was widely blamed for the state's slow response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
"My administration has begun readying for this change and we look forward to helping with a smooth transition," she said in a prepared statement. "I want to thank the people of Louisiana for the past four years, though there is still much work to do in my last few months as your governor."
When he takes office in January, Jindal will become the nation's youngest governor in office. He pledged to fight corruption and rid the state of those "feeding at the public trough," revisiting a campaign theme.
"They can either go quietly or they can go loudly, but either way, they will go," he said, adding that he would call the Legislature into special session to address ethics reform.
Political analysts said Jindal built up support as a sort of "buyer's remorse" from people who voted for Blanco last time and had second thoughts about that decision. Blanco was widely criticized for the state's response to Hurricane Katrina and she announced months ago that she would not seek re-election.
"I think the Jindal camp, almost explicitly, (wanted) to cast it this way: If you were able to revote, who would you vote for?" said Pearson Cross, a University of Louisiana at Lafayette political scientist.
Jindal has held a strong lead in the polls since the field of candidates became settled nearly two months ago.
But the two multimillionaires in the race -- Boasso, a state senator from St. Bernard Parish, and Georges, a New Orleans-area businessman -- poured millions of their own dollars into their campaigns to try to prevent Jindal's victory.
Campbell, a public service commissioner from Bossier Parish, had less money but ran on a singular plan: scrapping the state income tax on businesses and individuals and levying a new tax on oil and gas processed in Louisiana.
The race was one of the highest-spending in Louisiana history. Jindal alone raised $11 million, and Georges poured about $10 million of his personal wealth into his campaign war chest while Boasso plugged in nearly $5 million of his own cash.
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Source: Louisiana elects first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction - CNN.com
Congrats and the best of luck to him.
__________________
The Buck Stops Here
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10-21-2007, 17:09 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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WAB Bartender
Defense Professional
Military Professional
Join Date: 11-24-04
Location: Vacaville, CA.
Country:
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From Captain's Quarters:
Quote:
Bobby Rises In Louisiana
Louisiana elected its governor on the first ballot for the first time in recent memory, and the voters sent a message to the corrupt Democratic machine at the same time. Bobby Jindal, who narrowly lost a runoff four years ago, becomes the first Indian-American governor of a state after prevailing against a desperate opposition that stooped low enough to smear Jindal over religion:
Quote:
Republican Bobby Jindal won election as Louisiana governor Saturday, setting a string of firsts and leaving no doubt that the state's voters strongly desire new leadership two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Jindal, 36, will be the nation's youngest sitting governor. The son of Indian immigrants, he will also be the first Indian American governor in U.S. history, and the first nonwhite to hold the job in Louisiana since Reconstruction.
The election of Jindal, who is a conservative, underscores the fast-fading fortunes of the Democratic Party in Louisiana after the hurricanes. ...
Democrats make up about half of the 2.8 million registered voters in Louisiana, outnumbering Republicans by nearly 2 to 1. But the number of registered Democrats has dropped by nearly 57,000 since the 2005 hurricanes. Residents have criticized the state government, which is dominated by Democrats, as incompetent and corrupt.
Jindal capitalized on that sentiment, making the fight to root out Louisiana's corruption a central theme of his campaign. One of his commercials portrayed his Democratic rivals as crooked clowns with cash coming out of their pockets.
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Democrats have used Hurricane Katrina to beat up on George Bush for the past two years, but that didn't fool Louisiana voters. They saw the difference between the rescue and repair efforts in Mississippi and Louisiana, and knew the difference was the state and local government responses. The Democrats have run the state as corrupt incompetents, but their poor leadership didn't cost lives until 2005. The voters have begun cleaning house in Louisiana.
That didn't keep the Democrats from trying some character assassination on their way out. They attempted to twist Jindal's Catholic apologetics as an attack on Protestants by taking sentences out of context, and in at least one instance misattributing a quote from John Calvin to Jindal. The Democratic Party tried raising a million dollars to stoke anti-Catholic bigotry in Louisiana to beat Jindal, but in the end only indicted themselves for desperation and intellectual and moral bankruptcy.[Emphasis MINE, and PROUDLY. - Bluesman]
Now Jindal takes his place in an important executive position at a critical time for Louisiana. New Orleans needs leadership and action, sorely missing from local and state government since Katrina hit. The state itself still suffers from the endemic corruption left behind by the Democrats who still dominate the state bureaucracies. If he can clean up Louisiana and return New Orleans to health and safety, Jindal may get a lot more attention in eight years as a Republican candidate for the White House -- and at 44, he could electrify conservative politics in 2015.
The stage is set. If Jindal performs, this could be the start of a long run.
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__________________
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell
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10-21-2007, 17:11 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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WAB Bartender
Defense Professional
Military Professional
Join Date: 11-24-04
Location: Vacaville, CA.
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From Hewitt's site by Patrick Ruffini:
Quote:
I don't care who your candidate for President is. Tonight, Bobby Jindal is our leader.
Jindal's 54% first-round victory is an historic mandate for change against the most corrupt political culture in America. For decades, Louisiana has lived in the shadow of the easy populism of Huey Long, its politicians feasting on revenues from the state's natural resources. If you want to get a taste of a sense of entitlement and venality normally seen in the Saudi royals, except right here in America, just visit Louisiana. From Blundering Blanco to Freezer Cash Jefferson, the political class was a parody of itself.
A generation ago, New Orleans was the capital of the South, its strategic position at the mouth of the Mississippi delivering real wealth to the state. Ever since, Louisiana has fallen further and further behind, as places like Atlanta and Charlotte took the lead. Taxes went up. Corruption continued unabated. There was a revolving door between jail and public office.
Old orders like this always seem to die hard. Think of liberalism in 1979, the Democratic majority in Congress in 1994, unlimited welfare in 1996. They all went on for decades, and seemed indestructible.
Until one day they weren't. Inevitably, they fail so spectacularly that the people are compelled to rebel through democratic means. Yesterday was that day in Louisiana, the last enclave of welfare state liberalism and corruption in the South.
The impact of Katrina was felt up and down the ballot. The grandstanding Attorney General finished third and won't make the runoff. The grandstanding Democratic Jefferson Parish President faced an unexpectedly tough race against an unknown opponent, doing worse in areas that flooded. Helped along by term limits, the majority of the state legislature is turning over.
Epic... historic... ginormous are the words that come easiest to mind tonight.
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10-21-2007, 18:19 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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Lord High Hullabalooster
Senior Contributor
Join Date: 11-23-04
Location: Columbia Heights, MN
Country:
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Stupid racist hate-filled Republicans.
Congratulations, Louisiana!
-dale |
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10-21-2007, 19:12 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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WAB Bartender
Defense Professional
Military Professional
Join Date: 11-24-04
Location: Vacaville, CA.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dalem
Stupid racist hate-filled Republicans.
Congratulations, Louisiana!
-dale |
Funny, ain't it, that all us racist haters declared THIS guy to be our leader, ain't it?
And which party was it that tried their best to use his heritage/race as a weapon to destroy him?
Who doesn't see it yet? |
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10-21-2007, 19:37 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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Navajo Code Talker
Senior Contributor
Join Date: 12-27-04
Location: Patiala, India
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__________________
Nabha Sparasham Deeptam
-Touch The Sky With Glory
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10-22-2007, 01:53 AM
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#7 (permalink)
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Lord High Hullabalooster
Senior Contributor
Join Date: 11-23-04
Location: Columbia Heights, MN
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Seriously.
Which party makes NOTHING of "race", and which party makes EVERYTHING of "race".
Which one?
-dale
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10-22-2007, 04:24 AM
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#8 (permalink)
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Senior Contributor
Join Date: 01-27-06
Location: DPRK, Democratik People's Republik of Kalifornia
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Well, the good people of Louisiana have restored my faith in the American electorate. They saw through the bullcrap and realized the local government was corrupt and incompetent. Let's hope the new guy can do something to help out the people there.
__________________
"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.
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10-22-2007, 04:28 AM
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#9 (permalink)
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Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
Country:
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It is insourcing the outsourcing to administer the US! 
Dalem,
Forget about racist Republicans.
Brains have won!
Indians are on the move and are swaming! 
Now, go eat your heart out and lambast me!
Nothing like getting you guys goat!
It makes an interesting copy and a rocking thread!
Julie, attaboy girl. Sic them!
__________________
"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."
I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.
HAKUNA MATATA
Last edited by Ray : 10-22-2007 at 04:32 AM.
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10-22-2007, 04:30 AM
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#10 (permalink)
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Senior Contributor
Join Date: 01-27-06
Location: DPRK, Democratik People's Republik of Kalifornia
Country:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray
It is insourcing the outsourcing to administer the US! |
Maybe he can do it cheaper.  |
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10-22-2007, 04:34 AM
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#11 (permalink)
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Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
Country:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gunnut
Maybe he can do it cheaper. |
He comes cheap! 
Jokes apart, it does show that the US is a country of opportunities!
And though he is an American, it does makes one realise that India is the first amongst the 'coloureds' and Asians to achieve this.
But I am sure Bobby J would not agree he is an Indian and good for him too!
He is, after all, an American with a dark shade, not on his eyes, but on his skin!
And American's love a sun tan!
Last edited by Ray : 10-22-2007 at 04:41 AM.
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10-22-2007, 04:45 AM
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#12 (permalink)
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Banished
Join Date: 07-29-05
Location: Cochin
Country: 
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Look at this way,
Both great democracies India and US, albiet with their problems.
Wether it is Sonia Gandhi or Bobby Jindal, They are all welcome.
Can pakistan or anyone claim this? Democracy at its best.
See, postive side, forget Democrat, republican and Quattroachi.
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10-22-2007, 12:30 PM
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#13 (permalink)
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Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
Country:
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As far as I am concerned, Jindal is an American.
And all Americans are but immigrants except the native Indian (I believe naming them by the name that I know of is not PC in the US and I don't know what they are called these days).
Therefore, the world wins!
But, yes, it does make me feel good that Indians are doing good in and for the US.
Last edited by Ray : 10-22-2007 at 12:33 PM.
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10-22-2007, 13:03 PM
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#14 (permalink)
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Military Professional
Moderator
Scotch taster
Join Date: 08-06-03
Country: 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray
And all Americans are but immigrants except the native Indian (I believe naming them by the name that I know of is not PC in the US and I don't know what they are called these days).
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Sir,
As a group, they're called Native Americans/Canadians or the First Nations.
__________________
Chimo
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10-22-2007, 13:18 PM
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#15 (permalink)
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Senior Contributor
Join Date: 07-28-06
Location: Arlington, TX
Country:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Officer of Engineers
Sir,
As a group, they're called Native Americans/Canadians or the First Nations.
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I have also heard the term "Indian Nation".
Jindal was a landslide because the Democrat governor was a moron.
I hope this guy does more to put New Orleans back on the map as we all remember it! |
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