Jindal’s re-election looking likely

Though there has been some dissatisfaction with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration of the state to date, there doesn’t seem to be enough of it at the present time to foreclose on his re-election.

The latest effort by Ron Ceasar of Opelousas to recall the governor before election time has failed miserably, getting only a few dozen signatures by last week when 908,000 were needed by July 5.

But Ceasar says he plans to get rid of him by running against him in the election. We would say he has a tough job ahead.

Certainly, Jindal has displeased some as every governor must when he must take sides by vetoing or not vetoing legislation and making administrative decisions. It is impossible not to.

But one must consider the overall when judging their officials. Add them up and compare them to what any other possible candidate with a chance might do.

It would be hard to strike Jindal out. It is obvious that he has supported what most of the voters want most of the time.
Now there’s another factor to consider. Even if he supported what most of the people wanted most of the time, if he didn’t push it enough to get it passed, one could consider he failed. And there are a few times Jindal may not have used enough pressure.

But looking at the overall, Jindal has successfully represented most of the people most of the time. And that is why there are no well-known names who could have a chance to win in the race against him.

His name may be Ceasar but with only 55 signees supporting him, he does not fall into that category.

 

Governor’s veto on tax may not count

One of the issues on which Jindal may lose is his veto of the four-cent renewal on cigarette taxes. Though his veto was upheld by the legislature, it prompted inclusion of an amendment to a proposed constitutional amendment to reinstate the tax permanently.

Now voters will have the opportunity to vote on the amendment in November. If it passes, Jindal will have lost on that issue.

 Jindal’s reasoning on the tax renewal was not exactly as intellectual as it has been on other matters. Most people probably do not consider a tax renewal as a tax increase. In spite of the wording of the renewal, the tax level would remain the same it has been.

But with the big yard signs already out in support for the governor, and no others out yet, don’t bank on that one loss interfering with his re-election. At this point, it seems unlikely.