2016 watch: Bobby Jindal is Iowa-bound again
Louisiana's Bobby Jindal is Iowa-bound again.
Jindal, who is finishing his second term as governor, will headline the Polk County GOP Holiday Victory Party in Des Moines on Dec. 16, staff at his political action committee told The Des Moines Register on Thursday.
Jindal has already made three trips to the presidential testing grounds of Iowa this year. This will be his fourth.
In June, in an interview with The Des Moines Register, Jindal, 43, said he was weighing whether to run for the White House in 2016. "It's something I'm talking about with my wife and my family. It's something I'm praying about," he said.
On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Jindal said he will make a decision about a presidential run in the first half of 2015.
In the meantime, Jindal is doing all the things politics watchers would expect from a likely candidate. He squashes in speeches before national audiences, like at the "Values Voter Summit" in Washington, D.C., between trips to the early states of New Hampshire and Iowa.
He's finishing up a high-profile stint as vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
In October 2013, he launched a D.C.-based nonprofit called America Next to amplify his national policy ideas. Its executive director, Jill Neunaber, has Iowa ties: she's a veteran of Mitt Romney's 2008 and 2012 Iowa campaigns. And in March this year, Jindal created a political action committee called Stand Up to Washington to promote conservative candidates.
A Rhodes Scholar who wrote 100 white papers while running for governor, Jindal talks regularly about "what we have done in Louisiana." He says they've cut the state budget 26 percent, cut the number of state employees 34 percent, and have seen the state's economy grow twice as fast as the national economy.
On "Meet the Press," Chuck Todd noted that Louisiana's decision not expand Medicaid as part of Obamacare has left 265,000 people uninsured. Jindal responded: "Democrats and Republicans both want to represent the vulnerable, want to help people get healthcare. Medicaid is not the right way." Jindal called it a flawed program that doesn't improve physical outcomes. And it was "designed to take care of the disabled, of vulnerable children. It was never designed to be there for able-bodied adults."
Jindal has dedicated time to making connections in Iowa. In June, during a two-day Iowa swing, Jindal headlined a party fundraiser a Friday night in Des Moines, then addressed 1,400 activists at the GOP state convention on Saturday. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul also spoke at the convention.
On a two-day trip August, Jindal and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee each spoke to a gathering of Christian conservatives at an Iowa Renewal Project "Rediscovering God in America" event in Cedar Rapids. The next day, Jindal mingled with Iowans at the state fairgrounds, then was one of five Republican potential presidential candidates who spoke at a summit of 1,200 evangelical Christians in Ames hosted by the Family Leader.
On a busy one-day jaunt in September, Jindal stopped by two GOP campaign offices – in Urbandale and in Ames – and attended a fundraiser for Iowa Senate Minority Leader Bill Dix during a tailgating party at an Iowa State University football game. That night, Jindal was one of three possible 2016'ers who gave a speech to about 750 at a fundraiser in Des Moines for another social conservative group, the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition.
Jindal promoted Iowa Republicans running in this fall's election, including running a radio ad urging votes for Sam Clovis for state treasurer.
The Polk County holiday party on Tuesday, Dec. 16 will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by a dinner at 7 p.m. at the West Des Moines Marriott on Jordan Creek Parkway. For ticket information, call the Polk County GOP at (515) 280-6438.