Is Jindal Looking to 2012?
Gov. Jindal's donation to Nikki Haley's campaign raises questions about his interest in South Carolina's important 2012 GOP presidential primary.
Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Tim Pawlenty all donated money to Nikki Haley. Apparently, so did Bobby Jindal. New filings with the South Carolina state ethics commission show that Jindal's campaign committee sent Haley $3,500 on June 16th. A week later, Haley defeated Gresham Barrett in the runoff in the Republican primary for governor. By winning the nomination, Haley ensured that, barring some colossal upset, she will be the most powerful Republican in an early primary state, one which is nearly as important as both Iowa and New Hampshire for any candidate hoping to win the Republican nomination for President.
Interestingly, neither Jindal nor the Haley campaign made public note of the contribution....but Bobby Jindal is scoring points so far in his dealing with the BP oil spill and will also be releasing a book on his life and vision for the Republican party later this year. While Palin, Romney, and Pawlenty all have bigger names, Bobby Jindal is an Indian-American governor of a Southern state, which is exactly what Haley will be if she wins the South Carolina general election.
Maybe Jindal just likes Nikki Haley and wants to support her candidacy? But now that Jindal has been thrust into the national spotlight with his handling of the BP oil spill his upcoming book and checks to the probable future governor of South Carolina will only raise eyebrow. All that is missing is a secret trip to Iowa or New Hampshire...
UPDATE: Jindal's team did not respond to FrumForum's requests for a comment.
Posted at 3:35pm
UPDATE: Earlier today, I wrote a story revolving around Bobby Jindal's donations to South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley. Both Jindal and Haley are Indian-American Republican politicians, and, if Haley wins, both will be governors of states in the Deep South. Given that Jindal is getting a great deal of positive press and is releasing a book unveiling his vision for the Republican party, it seems reasonable to wonder why he is giving money to a candidate from another state (which also happens to have an early primary). We at FrumForum understand that Gov. Jindal is busy dealing with the oil spill and other business; however, both an email and a voicemail detailing several very simple questions were unanswered by Gov. Jindal's press secretary. The below questions are pulled directly from the email that I sent to Gov. Jindal's team. We would be very eager to get Gov. Jindal's responses.
From the email:
Why did neither your camp nor Haley's campaign put the information out there for the public. Gov. Jindal is a big name....it would seem like something that the Haley camp would like to go public with. Did you guys request that the news not be made public immediately? If so, why?
-Have Gov. Jindal and candidate Haley met in person or spoken on the phone recently? Are they personal friends? If Gov. Jindal made the donation because he is a personal friend, why did he not contribute the money on his own as opposed to using a political organization?
-Has Gov. Jindal made any trips, endorsed any candidates, or contributed (either directly or through his political organizations) to any candidates in Iowa or New Hampshire? Does Gov. Jindal have any plans to make any trips to those two spots anytime?
Posted at 9:18pm