PRESIDENT BOBBY? – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  There are signs that Bobby Jindal, the great Republican governor of Louisiana, will make a try for the White House in 2016.  He's an exciting, creative guy.  But there are problems, primarily concerning his popularity at home, that could severely handicap any campaign.  From Byron York at the Washington Examiner: 

A few months ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal traveled to Washington to introduce a new national health care proposal. While there, he arranged to meet privately with a small group of conservative journalists and policy experts at the offices of the Ethics and Public Policy Center think tank.

Some of the experts engaged Jindal in debate about one of the plan's more arcane provisions. The back-and-forth between Jindal and his questioners went deep into the proposal's details, and it was soon clear that Jindal could dive as far into the health care policy weeds as any of the wonkiest wonks. He knew his stuff.

Jindal, a former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, university president, congressman, and two-term governor, knows more than just health care. It's probably safe to say there are few politicians who can equal or surpass his policy knowledge.

Now Jindal is getting ready to run for president. So far, he's not exactly taking the race by storm. Of the ten candidates included in the RealClearPolitics average of polls for the 2016 Republican presidential race, Jindal is currently 10th, behind, in order of popularity, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, and Rick Santorum.

Jindal is smart, experienced, full of ideas, a solid conservative. So why is he so far back?

First, he is still virtually unknown. To the degree that people outside of Louisiana know Jindal, it is for his poorly received — OK, really bad — Republican response to President Obama's first State of the Union address in 2009.

"He's an undervalued stock," says Jindal adviser Timmy Teepell. "The view of the pundit class in DC, who have not seen Jindal on the stump or interacting with voters, is that he's an underdog without much of a shot. They take the simplistic approach — 'the first time I heard of him he gave a bad State of the Union response, so he can't be any good.' Fortunately, DC pundits don't get to decide elections."

Teepell points out that Jindal has won four elections in Louisiana — two for the House and two for the governor's office — all by decisive margins. When he makes his case to voters, he usually succeeds.

But all is not well at home for Jindal in his seventh year as governor. A poll released this week by PPP, a Democratic firm, pegged his job approval rating in Louisiana at just 34 percent, with 55 percent disapproval. (Other polls have also shown low approval ratings, although some have indicated recent improvement.)

In addition, PPP asked about hypothetical presidential matchups between Hillary Clinton and various Republicans in Louisiana. Bush, Cruz, and Paul, as well as Mike Huckabee, all topped Clinton. Jindal, the favorite son, trailed Clinton by a single point, 45 percent to 46 percent.

COMMENT:  The argument goes that Jindal has used up political capital at home to make needed reforms, and it's reflected in his poor public standing.  True enough.  But what counts in the end are the political numbers.  Jindal would make an exciting, innovative president.  His life story – he comes from a family that immigrated from India – is terrific.  But the numbers must start to work in his favor.  That can only happen if he announces and goes out on the stump, essentially full time, to make his case.

October 3, 2014