[StBernard] Our Views: Jindal does disservice

[Westley Annis]

Bobby Jindal

Our Views: Jindal does disservice

Advocate Opinion page staff
Published: Sep 5, 2007 - Page: 6B 

Gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal is embarrassing himself and doing
voters a disservice by repeatedly ducking candidate forums.

A man who would be governor should be willing to test himself and his ideas
in the arena of public debate and discussion.

The Kenner Republican did a double disservice this past week when he backed
out of a League of Women Voters forum. The public not only missed an
opportunity to see and hear Jindal, but other candidates for governor as
well.

Jindal's action led to postponement of a forum that had been scheduled for
statewide telecast at 8 p.m. Tuesday from the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol
Center. A panel of college students was to have questioned the candidates.
The League of Women Voters hopes to reschedule the forum, but no new date
has been set.

Jindal didn't bother to offer an excuse for declining to participate,
failing to respond to at least four requests for comment from The Advocate.

Republican candidate John Georges, a New Orleans businessman, also declined
to participate after learning Jindal had backed out.

Jindal has not yet appeared in a candidate forum during this campaign.
Jindal's campaign manager has said the congressman will appear in one forum
scheduled Sept. 27 at Louisiana Public Broadcasting and another scheduled
Oct. 17 by WAFB-TV and WWL. Both dates would be very late in the game. The
primary election is scheduled Oct. 20.

Jindal is a smart, articulate man with a large and loyal following. He
appears to be the front-runner in the gubernatorial campaign, and some
observers say they believe Jindal might win outright in the primary and
avoid a runoff.

That makes it all the more disappointing that he seems determined to avoid
for as long as possible the challenge of going toe-to-toe against his
opponents in a public forum.

Such an event is of far greater value to the voters than canned sound bites
and slick, carefully packaged political commercials. Forums offer voters an
opportunity to see and hear candidates together, to take their measure and
to see how they compare with each other.

Avoiding forums is something campaign front-runners often do, hoping to
avoid making mental and verbal blunders, and to keep from elevating
opponents in the public eye.

If that is smart politics, it also is political cowardice.