WILL "GOVERNOR BOBBY" MATCH "CAMPAIGN BOBBY"???

Well, my good buddy Bobby Jindal has been all over the news lately. With John McCain's defeat, every TV network, newspaper, and blog wants a piece of "the future of the Republican Party." As much as I like Bobby, the media-hype he has gotten doesn't really match up with his campaign promises, or the reality on the ground here in Louisiana.

Don't get me wrong here. I really believe that Bobby "can be" a rising star on the national political scene if he's willing to suck it up and stare down the jerks in Baton Rouge. But up until now, he has "flinched." The national media, and Republicans that are hopeful for their own savior really haven't dug too deeply into Bobby's "governance." (is that a word?)

With a shrinking economy, falling oil & natural gas prices (Louisiana gets a tremendous amount of it's revenue from royalties), federal dollars from Hurricanes Katrina & Rita drying up, and a Chicago thug Democrat headed to the White House (not as easy to deal with as "W"...especially if you are a "rising star" in the opposition party whose State voted overwhelmingly for the other guy), we are gonna see if Bobby is the administrative and political conservative genius he is being portrayed as.

Truthfully, I've got my doubts, but I hope he is. I'm praying for the boy! If he pulls this off, I will be the happiest, "egg-faced" Louisiana redneck you ever saw. And that good-looking Alaska Redneck, Sarah will have to settle for VP again.

But they've both still got some proving to do. You know, Republicans are kinda funny like that...they actually want to see some kind of track record before they put somebody up to be elected as the leader of the free world (unlike another Party I can think of).

This AP article is pretty spot-on from my perspective on the ground: Jindal, lawmakers face grim new reality with spending

A few lines from the article:

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's multiyear spending spree is skidding to a close. Now, a strikingly different reality of shortfalls and budget cuts face a freshman governor and lawmakers whose first year is better described as a spending festival than a show of restraint.

The new reality will force Jindal to put into practice his 2007 campaign rhetoric of the need to shrink the budget, but it also could put him in conflict with his own party if Republican lawmakers continue to push for tax breaks even as the state faces a budget shortfall.