A REPUBLICAN THAT IMPRESSES ME

I believe I chose to be a Democrat and not remain the Republican I was raised to be for the reason that Democrats were more in line with the compassion called for by the Christian principles that I internalized. Today, I heard a Republican speak that drew me in. I liked what he said. And I liked the appearance of his manner. I had never heard of him before. But today I watched his inauguration ceremony as governor of the state of Louisiana. His name is Bobbie Jindal. At the ceremony the “swearing in” was almost not done, but Jindal stood calmly by until it was clear something had been overlooked.

Jindal, served three years in the United States Congress when he was elected and “said he will call the state Legislature into a special session beginning Feb. 10 to tackle the centerpiece of his campaign: strengthening Louisiana's ethics laws… He takes over from Democrat Kathleen Blanco, who had defeated him four years earlier but whose image was battered by the state's response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She did not seek re-election.

Blanco attended the inaugural ceremonies with three other former Louisiana governors. The state's only other living ex-governor is Edwin Edwards, who could not attend because he is serving a federal prison sentence on corruption charges…. A conservative who has held a series of high-profile positions since heading the state health department at age 24, Jindal won 54 percent of the vote in October's primary election in a field of a dozen candidates.

While he has focused on reputation and ethics reform, Jindal inherits an array of problems that have dogged his predecessors. Louisiana is among the nation's most unhealthy and poorest states, its students still perform below average on national educational tests, and its population is dwindling.

Worsening the state's long-term history of problems, back-to-back blows from Katrina and Rita two years ago continue to plague the region. The pace of hurricane rebuilding has been sluggish, with thousands of homes left abandoned, residents displaced and basic government services destroyed.

Jindal described the storms as an opportunity to rebuild a better state.

‘For reasons beyond our earthly comprehension, this opportunity, this mandate, has been placed on our generation. We must rise to this challenge," he said. "Our goal is a new Louisiana where success is shared by all Louisianians.’”
Governor Jindal is the country's first Indian governor. That isn’t Native American Indian. He is the son of immigrants from India.

At the age of 36, he's also the nation's youngest state leader.

Source:
Jindal Pledges to End Louisiana Corruption
By MELINDA DESLATTE

Pictured above are Bobbie and Supriya Jindal