Not giving up after being on the bottom level in popularity ratings, Indian American Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal with his impressive performance, appeared to come out as the joint winner of the second-tier Republican presidential debate, multiple news outlets and political analysts have said. Fox News flash polls declared Carly Fiorina and Jindal to be the winners of the GOP’s undercard debate.
In a statement, Jindal’s campaign manager Timmy Teepell declared victory. “We saw plenty of smooth talking and famous names running for president, but only one candidate in the race has the backbone, the bandwidth and the experience to get the job done as president – Gov. Jindal,” he said.
Jindal, 44, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Punjab before he was born, is the first Indian American to ever run for a U.S. presidential election. Though currently faring at 13th position among a crowded field of 17 Republican presidential candidates, Jindal, for some political analysts, made an impressive appearance at the first televised Republican presidential debate for those who could not make it to the main discourse for the top 10 candidates.
“I think the American people are looking for real leadership. That’s what I’ve done in Louisiana, that’s what I’ll do in America,” Jindal asserted. “I’ve got the backbone; I’ve got the bandwidth; I’ve got the experience to get us through this. I’m asking folks not just to join my campaign but join a cause. It is time to believe in America again.”
Jindal also used the occasion to slam not only President Obama but also his other top Republican opponents while solidifying his stance that he is a top candidate. “We’ve got a lot of great talkers running for president. We’ve already got a great talker in the White House. We cannot afford four more years of on the job training. We need a doer, not a talker. We also need a nominee, a candidate who will endorse our own principles,” he said.
“Jeb Bush says we’ve got to be willing to lose the primary in order to win the general. Let me translate that for you. That’s the establishment telling us to hide our conservative principles to get the left and the media to like us. That never works. If we do that again, we will lose again; we will deserve to lose again.”
Michele Bachmann, a former presidential candidate, said that Jindal won the Aug. 6 debate. “Watching the #GOPDebate with millennials, their response is favorable towards @BobbyJindal whose responses have been strong and specific,” she wrote on Twitter. Jindal was also one of the most talked about candidates on Facebook.
According to Facebook, Jindal had 2.1 million people making 4.9 million interactions about him, making him the 10th most talked about Republican presidential candidate. According to the local Advertiser newspaper, Jindal delivered a solid, if less than spectacular, performance in the second-tier debate.
“There are two goals in a debate: get through it without making a major mistake and then try to distinguish yourself from the other candidates. I thought Gov. Jindal got through without making a mistake, but I’m not sure he distinguished himself from the other candidates on the stage,” said political analyst Josh Stockley of the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s.
Jindal said America must insist on a simulation in the case of immigration. “Immigration without simulation is an invasion. We need to tell folks who want to come here they need to come here legally. They need to learn English, adopt values, roll up their sleeves and get to work,” he said.
Jindal also reiterated his stance on hyphenated Americans, saying he was tired of “hyphenated identities.” He has in the past insisted that Americans are not “Indian-Americans or African-Americans or Asian-Americans” but just “Americans.” Asserting that the country needs a doer, Jindal has said he will provide real leadership to America if elected president in the November 2016 elections.
In related news, a report in the Washington Post added: One of the GOP’s rising stars made her case in Cleveland Aug. 6 for why she should be taken seriously as a potential vice presidential running mate.
Indian American South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who rose to national prominence this spring as she led the removal of the Confederate battle flag from her state’s Capitol grounds, was the featured guest at the Republican National Committee’s summer meeting in Cleveland a few hours before the primary debate.
Haley called on the party’s candidates to show “respect” in the debate and to offer substance and details about solving the nation’s problems. Haley, who has not endorsed a candidate, said she is looking for a nominee who “speaks from their gut.”
