Out of curiosity, LSU mass communications professor Bob Mann says he recently ran a few quick Internet domain name searches with keywords like “Bobby Jindal,” “president” and “2016.” It wasn’t long before he found something that piqued his interest: When he typed in Jindal2016.com the search automatically redirected him to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s campaign website, BobbyJindal.com. “That really jumped out at me,” Mann says. “To me, it says they want people who think Jindal is running for president to find BobbyJindal.com.” Mann says it’s just one more indication that Jindal will run for president in 2016. “There’s no doubt whatsoever about it; he wants to be president,” Mann says. Jindal’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the website. However, a spokesperson with Jindal’s campaign office says it does not own the Jindal2016.com domain and is not sure why it is redirecting to the governor’s campaign website. Local pollster and political consultant Bernie Pinsonat says most voters won’t care about the Jindal2016.com website—regardless of what it may or may not indicate—but says there’s also little doubt among political insiders that Jindal has his eye on the White House. “The people who do this for a living, they know he’s running, just [as] the average Louisianan who pays attention to the headlines thinks he’s going to run,” he says. “The website is just one more indication, in addition to the coverage and columns he’s gotten in Politico lately and his taking over [leadership] of the Republican Governors Association. He’s not going to verify it, but he’s running right now.” —Steve Sanoski
Editor’s note: This story has been updated since its original publication to include a comment from Gov. Bobby Jindal’s campaign.
