In early September year when Congressman Bobby Jindal was criss-crossing Louisiana, campaigning for the Oct. 20 primaries for Governor, he stopped at the Jambalaya Festival in Gonzales, a southern town that might have ordinarily voted against him four years ago when he ran for Governor the first time. It was a Saturday morning and his knee-high son was pulling at his pants as he and his team handed out leaflets and he pressed flesh.
"I wake up every morning as if I'm 10 points behind. No one is going to outwork us," he is quoted saying in press reports.
At his press conference the day after his victory garnering 54 percent of the vote, Jindal sported an unshaven chin to prove the many sleepless nights he went though to win over areas like Gonzales.
"It was incredibly gratifying," he told reporters. "We were truly expecting to be in a runoff, but to get that kind of mandate, to get that kind of widespread support from across the state!" Despite spending some $11 million and criss-crossing the state over the last year, he said, "…until you count the last vote, you really don't know," said the one-time Rhodes scholar and Assistant Secretary of Health under the Bush administration.
He recounted the incident in August when a supporter stopped him and said, "Son, I'm voting for you. Now this is our last chance," he recalled. "I don't think any legislative or elected official can ignore the mandate we got last night," he asserted.
"I intend to try to be Governor for everybody including those who did not vote for me," Jindal emphasized as he said he would work for the remaining months with incumbent Governor Kathleen Blanco, and credited her with bringing in $300 million for important projects.
Known for reeling off 'point-plans,' at the drop of a hat, Jindal said he had a three-point plan to get going right away:
1. To streamline the process for public assistance.
2. To get funding for whoever was promised it.
3. Make sure state projects currently in the works are implemented.
When he meets with President Bush, the Governor-Elect said he would broach his concerns about projects like the Road Home, the Cyber Command installation and the coastal protection plan that he has been pushing on Capitol Hill.
Jindal said he hoped Louisiana would be the site of one of the Presidential debates next year, adding that he wanted candidates to be aware of such issues as coastal erosion, health care crises, and fighting crime. He also made clear that while he was looking for the 'best' and the 'brightest' to come and work with him in Louisiana, he had not promised anyone any jobs yet, important in a state that has a reputation for corruption. Jindal enters the Governor's mansion officially in January 2008.
Published in News India-Times dated: 11/02/2007
"I wake up every morning as if I'm 10 points behind. No one is going to outwork us," he is quoted saying in press reports.
At his press conference the day after his victory garnering 54 percent of the vote, Jindal sported an unshaven chin to prove the many sleepless nights he went though to win over areas like Gonzales.
"It was incredibly gratifying," he told reporters. "We were truly expecting to be in a runoff, but to get that kind of mandate, to get that kind of widespread support from across the state!" Despite spending some $11 million and criss-crossing the state over the last year, he said, "…until you count the last vote, you really don't know," said the one-time Rhodes scholar and Assistant Secretary of Health under the Bush administration.
He recounted the incident in August when a supporter stopped him and said, "Son, I'm voting for you. Now this is our last chance," he recalled. "I don't think any legislative or elected official can ignore the mandate we got last night," he asserted.
"I intend to try to be Governor for everybody including those who did not vote for me," Jindal emphasized as he said he would work for the remaining months with incumbent Governor Kathleen Blanco, and credited her with bringing in $300 million for important projects.
Known for reeling off 'point-plans,' at the drop of a hat, Jindal said he had a three-point plan to get going right away:
1. To streamline the process for public assistance.
2. To get funding for whoever was promised it.
3. Make sure state projects currently in the works are implemented.
When he meets with President Bush, the Governor-Elect said he would broach his concerns about projects like the Road Home, the Cyber Command installation and the coastal protection plan that he has been pushing on Capitol Hill.
Jindal said he hoped Louisiana would be the site of one of the Presidential debates next year, adding that he wanted candidates to be aware of such issues as coastal erosion, health care crises, and fighting crime. He also made clear that while he was looking for the 'best' and the 'brightest' to come and work with him in Louisiana, he had not promised anyone any jobs yet, important in a state that has a reputation for corruption. Jindal enters the Governor's mansion officially in January 2008.
Published in News India-Times dated: 11/02/2007
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