While Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal didn't explicitly say it this morning on Fox News, he is expected to announce his 2016 presidential bid today and he explained why he thinks he should get the Republican nomination to Bill Hemmer. His full interview on Fox can be seen here at The Right Scoop.
While his announcement is not unexpected, Jindal's campaign doesn't necessarily come with the same hype that has surrounded Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and yes even Donald Trump's campaign announcements. And that's too bad, because as Erick Erickson documents here, Jindal's record in Louisiana was fantastic, even though the state has decided to move on from him. Rush Limbaugh is also a fan of Jindal. Jindal gave Louisiana the tough love it needed.
In addition, Jindal has a done great job articulating conservative principles and has the spine to fight back against the left. One of the best examples of this is in this video of the national gathering of governors in February 2014. While everyone else tried to be overly cordial, Jindal held nothing back and chastised Obama for not approving the Keystone Pipeline and for wanting to raise the minimum wage, even going as far as calling the Obama economy a "minimum wage economy." He then suggested more oil drilling, school choice and repealing excessive regulations. When a Democrat governor criticized Jindal's statement for being "partisan," Jindal doubled down and said he hoped the governor heard an even more partisan statement.
In that clip, Jindal took down the president and his economic policies in less than four minutes while not blinking in the face of Democrat pressure. Exactly the kind of candidate needed to beat Hillary Clinton.
This is not an endorsement of Jindal, but I do think that he is a terrific candidate who is deserving of some serious hype. But in an already crowded GOP field, Jindal might not be able to measure up to the likes of Cruz, Rubio, Paul, Walker and Bush.
Jindal's announcement will take place at 5 pm EST.