There’s not much Gov. Bobby Jindal and U.S. Sen. David Vitter are willing to do jointly, says Jeremy Alford in his latest column—aside from simultaneously acting like their significant rivalry is insignificant, that is.
“But, probably with some amount of regret by each, they have co-written one of the better tales from this generation of Louisiana politics,” Alford writes in his latest column. “It is a book that has kept consultants, journalists and political junkies turning the pages for years. The lead characters are two of the state’s most talented practitioners of Machiavellian statecraft who are equally scarred, although for very different reasons—one from a scandal, the other from poor approval ratings.”
Alford says the latest chapter in the politicians’ tale began last week, when Jindal signed into law a bill that opens up more records in the Governor’s Office to public access.
“Why would Jindal endorse such a concept after opposing and vetoing it for the past several years? That it would apply to the next governor, and not Jindal’s administration, is a good start,” he writes. “With Vitter leading in the polls, and Jindal’s distaste well known, it’s difficult not to imagine the governor cracking a smile when putting pen to paper on this one.”
Make no mistake, says Alford: Vitter the gubernatorial candidate and Jindal the presidential candidate correspondingly present potential pitfalls for the other’s ambitions.
“For instance, if and when the national media come calling to talk about his governor, Vitter, one of the anti-Jindal candidates on the fall ballot, is unlikely to shy away from throwing an elbow at Jindal’s 2016 campaign,” he writes. “On the other side of the page, there’s always the threat that Vitter could suffer if Jindal falters over the next four months and is eaten alive by the national press. Particularly if it reflects negatively on Louisiana.” Should that happen, Alford surmises, voters here are unlikely to want more Beltway banter and negative narratives mixed with their gubernatorial politics.
The storybook crafted by Jindal and Vitter has been in the works for eight years now, notes Alford, and possibly longer.
“While the newest chapter is only beginning to take shape, it’s too early to tell if it will actually be the last,” Alford writes. “Vitter without Jindal and Jindal without Vitter is like red beans and rice without sausage. Yet it may very well come to that. One or both may lose what are thought to be their ultimate political campaigns.”
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
