3 for 3?:

Pakistani-Muslim American Community To Support Blanco (PNS, 11/05/03)

The Pakistani American Congress (PAC) and the Patriot Muslim-Americans (PMA) are now carrying out a full scale and hectic election campaign for "a friend of our cause" -- the candidature of Kathleen Babineaux Blanco for the post of Governor of the State of Louisiana,the voting for which is fixed for Nov. 15.

Running against the seat is Bobby Jindall, an Indian, who, in the words of M. Ashraf Abbasi, president PAC, "is a highly prejudiced person, who could be a future threat for Pakistani interests in the United States."

Indian-Americans have already helped take down Bob Toricelli and Cynthia McKinney; if the Jindal election helps push them into the waiting arms of the GOP, Indians could indeed be the new Jews.

MORE:
-In Louisiana: the tortoise and the hare, and a problem for Bubba (Herald Tribune, 11/08/03)

It's Bubba's dilemma: in Louisiana, the choice for governor is an Indian-American or a woman, and it's the woman who has the hunting license. [...]

So far, Jindal has the upper hand. It's not easy pulling together Catholic Cajuns in Acadiana, conservative Protestants in North Louisiana, urban blacks in New Orleans, and suburbanites in Baton Rouge, and candidates don't usually try.

But there are signs that Jindal, at 32 a former Rhodes Scholar and holder of high state and federal posts, could make history twice over if he is elected.

He'd be the first nonwhite ever popularly chosen for a Southern governor's chair.

And this conservative ex-Bush administration official would be the rare Republican to make inroads into the black vote. After some high-profile endorsements, including one from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin this week, polls show him with between 12 to 15 percent of the black vote, more than twice the usual Republican total.

-Hard work paying off for Jindal (John Hill, November 9, 2003, The Town Talk)

The deep voice of the driver, who has been delivering his take on the mystique of New Orleans, turns to them and gestures down to Jindal, who turns as if on cue. "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is probably the next governor of this state. He's a Republican, but I may vote for him, and I'm a Democrat."

Jindal, who has been studiously courting black voters, especially in New Orleans, beams.

"Thank you very much," he says to the driver, then turns to the tourists: "Welcome to New Orleans." They smile, wave and snap photos, and they're gone, on to other sites and sounds of one of the most famous streets in America, named not for Kentucky Bourbon as activity there might lead one to conclude, but the House of Bourbon that is Jindal's conservative political ancestry.

Jindal, 32, is working hard to crack New Orleans, hoping to get beyond his 21 percent primary showing and attract a healthy hunk of the 3 out of 4 voters who went Democratic in the primary.

A gray-suited white man strolls up and gives Jindal a check. He is Max Maxwell, 52, who's in the oil business. "We're Republican. We voted for Randy Ewing (a Democrat) in the first."

"I got a contribution just standing here on Bourbon Street," Jindal quips, his easy laugh a characteristic that just doesn't come across on television. Jindal is intelligent, intense and committed but also believes in laughing a lot - including at himself.

-Blanco is the quiet eye in the storm (John Hill, November 9, 2003, The Town Talk)

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 8, 2003 11:51 PM