. . . And tomorrow?

Human Events, Nov 24, 2003 by Gizzi, John

So what to do with Bobby Jindal? Although there are certainly some Republicans in Louisiana who are disappointed in their standard-bearer because of his losing campaign for governor, it is difficult to find any GOP activist who believes that Jindal-at 32, a "whiz kid," the son of Indian immigrants, and a former top official under both Gov. Foster and President Bush-will fade into obscurity.

As Gov-elect Blanco prepared to take office in January, speculation that three-term Sen. John Breaux (D.-La.) will leave office next year for a lucrative lobbying job was mounting. With a Democratic governor in Baton Rouge, pundits and pols began to speculate that Breaux might resign from office next year and secure the appointment to the Senate of his friend and fellow centrist Democrat, Rep. Chris John (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 53%).

Whether Breaux resigns or simply serves out his term through '04, conservative Republican Rep. David Vitter (lifetime ACU rating: 83%) has said he will run for the Senate next year if there is an open seat. But there is nothing to keep Jindal, fresh from near-election to the governorship and with a statewide organization in place, from running for the Senate himself.

"And we have a pretty rich history of folks losing the governorship one year and then going on to win the Senate the following year," noted Lou Gehrig Burnett, editor of the insightful cyberspace political newsletter faxnetupdate.com and himself the longtime right-hand man to the late Rep. (1940-76) F. Edward Hebert (D.-La.). Burnett recalled how State Sen. J. Bennett Johnston lost a squeaker of a run-off for governor to fellow Democrat Edwin Edwards in 1971, and then bounced back a year later to win a Senate seat and serve until 1996. His seat was then won by fellow Democrat Mary Landrieu, Burnett continued, who had-guess what?-lost a bid for governor the year before.