Barry-Bobby Comparison

Even if Bobby Jindal's campaign tries to steer away from this as much as possible, it is simply inevitable that their candidate will be compared to President Barack Obama. How this comparison will be handled, however, is still to be determined. One thing that will not work for the Republican campaign for Jindal's 2012 presidency is if he is portrayed as "Obama Jr." or "trying to fill Barack's shoes" (the latter of which will be difficult considering Obama wears a size 12). The media and voters will need to get a sense of Bobby's identity, and the constant comparison between these two historic political figures may present a struggle for Jindal to portray the "real" Bobby--or will it be Piyush? One thing the media will certainly pick up on is the double name trend in Jindal's family, and this can either work for him or against him. Personally, to the majority of American voters, I think Jindal stands a better chance if he presents himself as Piyush and Supriya, with their three children Selia, Shaan and Slade. However, the Grand Old Party will most likely favor Bobby and Sue, with their kids Elizabeth, Robert and Ryan (the children's second names).

Whatever he decides to call himself, his appearance, demeanor and ideals will be on trial against Barack's, and not simply because they are both minorities, but also because they are both family men with young children, politically inexperienced (according to some) and both represent an kind of "change" for America (even if Jindal doesn't run on that motto, it will be prevalent).

As a sort of first-look comparison of the two politicians, I found each of their appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (it's important to compare them in the same atmosphere). Below are Bobby's and Barack's clips, respectively.

Click Here for Bobby Jindal on the Tonight Show (embedding was disabled)

Barack on the Tonight Show

Notice the different in their comfort levels? Leno introduces Barack as a rock star, and in many ways, he portrays that on the scree. From his swagger walking on stage to his unbuttoned jacket and leaned back posture to his jokes about family, he seems 20 times more confident and comfortable than Bobby. While these videos were taken sometime in 2007, I think Jindal still has some sorting out to do when it comes to his on-stage presence. Bobby needs to decide who he's going to be and own it!

Very Important!!

Hey guys! This is my most important post of the semester... well almost...I thought the Wikipedia one was pretty good. :)

Anyway, I think it was fairly unanimous that we would have a bit of a party next Monday, so here is the place to post your contribution to our soiree.

Here is what I'll be bringing--Rocky Road Brownies!

Lauren will bring -- Homemade Oreos!

Richard and Harry will bring -- Indian Food!

Kevin will bring -- Drinks!

Mary will bring -- Spinach Dip!

Sarai will bring -- Pumpkin Bread/Gingerbread

Please post a comment with what you'd like to bring and I'll either update this post periodically or you can just click on the comments below to see what we've got.

And if anyone feels like celebrating Riggio-style, feel free to bring some champagne/wine to toast the end of a fine class. :)

Better read those Terms of Use!!

This may not be entirely applicable to politics, but a case back in 2006 of a woman who impersonated a fictional 13 year-old boy on MySpace causing a young-girl to commit suicide was recently (in the last few months) resolved. The verdict "expands the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which was passed in 1986 as a tool against hackers, to include social networking Web sites."

Here is a synopsis of the case, disturbing really: "Drew, 49, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., posed as a teenage boy, 'Josh Evans,' using a MySpace account to send romantic, then disturbing, messages to one of her daughter's classmates, 13-year-old Megan Meier. Meier thought she was messaging with a new, good-looking boy in town. As the New Yorker magazine said in a January article about the case: 'Megan and her peers carried on an online social life that was more mercurial, and perhaps more crucial to their sense of status and acceptance, than the one they inhabited in the flesh.' Meier, who suffered from depression, killed herself in October 2006 soon after reading a message from Drew's account that said: 'The world would be a better place without you.'"

So what does this mean for sites like WikiLeaks, the Huffington Post and other non-traditional news sites that are not always 100% accurate? What does it mean for bloggers who post false information? It means, you could potentially, if this law is expanded even more, be held criminally responsible for your words. Perhaps this will have an effect on future elections? (There, I tied it in.. ) :)

Bobby's to-do list

A recent MSNBC article evaluated the possibility of several Republican officials running for the presidential ticket in 2012. The results of combined Gallup surveys of nearly 800 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents conducted between 11/5 and 11/16 were:

Candidate Favorability to run in 2012
Sarah Palin 67%
Mitt Romney 62%
Mike Huckabee 61%
David Petraeus 49%
Rudy Giuliani 48%
Bobby Jindal 34%
Jeb Bush 31%
Charlie Crist 23%
Lindsay Graham 21%

As you can see, Bobby doesn't appear to be as far up the list as the media is currently broadcasting. But the article offers an explanation for this is as well.

First, many who are not familiar with a name just automatically
choose the "would not like to see run" option, and that is the most
likely explanation.

Second, at 37, almost a decade younger than even the youthful
President-elect Barack Obama, there could be some "he's too young"
reasoning involved here.

Third, and probably insignificant in number, are Louisianans who
think he is badly needed in the state, hoping that he can reverse
the, say, six or seven decades of lousy public policy choices that
have put the state in the terrible shape it's in. But that probably
doesn't amount to much in a national poll and might be offset by
those proud that Louisiana could offer up a contender who,
uncharacteristically for the state's governors, is both smart and honest.

The final explanation, held till last for a reason, is race. The son of
two immigrants from India, he would look different from any previous
GOP nominee or president, just as Obama was unique among serious
Democratic contenders and past occupants of the White House.
During Jindal's first (and unsuccessful) run for governor, he performed
no worse in urban, heavily Democratic areas than any other Republican.
In the suburbs, traditionally Republican-leaning if not strongholds,
Jindal did very well. It was in the small towns and rural parts of the
state in 2003 that Jindal underperformed what a Republican should
be expected to win, and that was undoubtedly racially driven. Those
voters were likely to be those with the least familiarity with Indian-
Americans and least open to change. By the time Jindal ran again,
successfully in 2007, he won them over.

These appear to be a brief summary of what Jindal might face if he, in fact, decides to run for high office in 2012. What are the solutions? First, create a strong national profile (or, hire Obama's campaign team), utilize Internet networking sites, and dominate the YouTube culture with music videos, video diaries, speeches, and generally motivating footage to capture the attention of young viewers. Second, make some really good political decisions and policies, right about now, to thwart the accusations of your "lack of experience" later. By creating serious and tangible "change" in Louisiana, you can resolve both the second and third issues. As for the race issue, I'm hoping, in four years, after progress and a successful Obama first term, it will be as close to a non-issue as possible.

What are some things already working for Bobby Jindal?

The catch for Jindal in 2012 is that the contraction in the size and shape
of the Republican Party has made those least open to his candidacy more
influential than before. Younger, upscale, college and graduate-schooled white
suburban voters abandoned the GOP en masse, and those are precisely the ones
that might be most open or excited by a Jindal candidacy. Thus the question,
Could Jindal draw them back?

And you thought you were web savvy...

To give us a better perspective of the scope of social networking in our Internet-fueled society, here is a list I stole from Wikipedia of various networking sites. I reorganized the list by registered users (I apologize if it's a little difficult to read).

See many you are a member of.... I, sadly, only belong to 10.. looks like I have some catching up to do!

I'M BACK!!

So I have been MIA for a little while, but no need to fret, I'm back in action!

A lot has happened since my last post, but for now I will just address the topic of this week's discussion--social networking and its place in political media.

To begin, take a look at Barack Obama's Twitter page. Not very insightful, or recently updated, but available nonetheless. And does John McCain twitter, you may ask? Of course not, but one of his aides does. I have to admit, his is a little more interesting....

And even more pertinent to tomorrow's class--Bobby Jindal's tweets and twitts! Looks pretty presidential, no?

Here's an interesting little comparison:

Barack Obama followers: 144,203
John McCain followers: 5,610
Bobby Jindal followers: 464
Sarah Palin followers: 10
Mike Hucakbee followers: 0

Al-Qaida is angry...aren't they always?

I thought it was rather interesting that the story of Wednesday's audio message from Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri is being posted, broadcasted and published most heavily by conservative, right-wing media sources. It seems to be all over their sites. And I wonder if this is a way to criticize the incoming administration based on terrorists' disapproval of American strategies and actions. Would the message from Al-Qaida be any different if McCain were elected? I think not, yet some conservatives seem to think so...