Jindal Wins Big in Louisiana

The decisive, no-runoff election of conservative reformer and "wunderkind" Bobby Jindal as the new Republican governor of Louisiana is a huge victory for Republicans, and blunts Katrina as an issue in 2008. (WaPo story, AP photo and they try to figure out what it means here.)

Louisiana voters made their statement on who was responsible for Katrina, as the current criminally incompetent Democrat Governor Kathleen Blanco slinks off into the sunset.

The good old Dem boys and girls choke-hold on Louisiana has been broken, as voters there elected their first non-white governor since Republican Reconstruction. (Watch out Sen. Mary Landrieu.)

Jindal, the son of immigrants from India, is a brilliant, charismatic and hard-working man, a rising star for Republicans in the country. He is also a Catholic, which can't hurt for the future.

Captain's Quarters with more.

UPDATE: Journal editorial, and John Fund, WSJ, Bayou Boy Wonder:

One reason Mr. Jindal was able to win votes across ethnic and demographic lines is that while he treats his Indian background as an overall plus, he won't trade on it. He has in the past left the space for "race" on government documents blank. "I'm against all quotas, all set-asides," he says. "America is the greatest. We got ahead by hard work. We shouldn't respond to every problem with a government program. Here, anyone can succeed."

Mr. Jindal is full of ideas for how to improve government. He plans to use his health-care expertise to help the uninsured obtain health insurance. The way to do that, he says, is to work with the three-fourths of the uninsured who have jobs. He proposes insurance pools in which small businesses can join together to get lower-cost premiums and giving the private sector a greater role in provision of health care for the poor.

P.S. Do we need a natural disaster to snap Illinois out of its crushing taxes and corruption? It's getting lonely in the cellar of worst states.

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