Bobby Jindal gets letter from Guardians of the Free Republic

The Guardians of the Free Republic sent Governor Jindal a letter the other day. They want him to step down. Although this should be taken seriously, it comes at a bad time. As if Bobby Jindal didn't have enough problems. A crippled state economy and a brewing controversy over the Lt. Governor's office has kept him busy. To top it off he managed to team up with the Attorney General to write a letter disputing the health care bill. Looks like his game plan is to just follow whatever the RNC tells him to do. I'm not sure what he thinks about all day but it's definitely not the Louisiana economy. Yeah, sure the hospital. That's not going to solve much. Just keep a few doctors, health care workers, and nurses in town spending money at fancy restaurants. Might need a few more waiters and bar maids to go to work. 

It's called following the money. Other Republican Governors like California's Scharzenegger are cashing in on the clean energy policy included in the Recovery Act. There building electrical grids for electric vehicles. Building zero energy homes backed by federal tax credits. Large electric companies are building charging stations for electric vehicles to provide the infrastructure to adopt energy saving vehicles.

Meanwhile Jindal just continues to say "NO". It's fine to want less taxes and less federal government interference. But don't let the state go to pot over political ideology. 

Guess how many electric vehicle charging stations Louisiana has? We have a grand total of zero. Meanwhile the Nissan Leaf is due to roll out this month backed by federal dollars that will have them selling like hot cakes. $7500 rebates and all. Automakers in the area and others looking to get in on the clean energy economy should call the Governor and tell him it's not enough to "just say no".

That's not all Jindal has dropped the ball on. He has no plan to capture Recovery Act dollars. Photovoltaic instillations use renewable energy to lower bills and help home owners save money. All while jump starting a green economy. As hot as it gets in Louisiana you would think Bobby would be all over this.The Governor's office is not helping to sell that idea either. Louisiana had a perfect opportunity to cash in on rebates and tax credits available for new homes built using renewable energy applications. As much as Blanco and Nagin were vilified during Katrina it's amazing that Jindal has managed to escape some of that criticism. I guess he's good at dodging the heat. 

To add insult to injury Jindal's political advisors have helped him paint himself into a corner politically. For most of these initiatives he would suffer politically supporting any of them. So it looks like Jindal has fallen victim to the same Louisiana political culture we thought he would be able to resist. The politicos helping him are just concerned with keeping him in office so they can hold on to their jobs. 

After he stumbled on the national stage giving the Republican response. He moved so far to the right that he sacrificed any chances to get any meaningful policies past. 

Jindal and Mitch Landrieu say they want to attract the best and the brightest but in order to do that you have to be willing to take some chances. I wouldn't count Bobby Jindal out yet but he has to get back on track. Leave the national stage to the big boys for awhile. I'm willing to cut him some slack over the excitement of being elected the first Indian governor. He made history. But sadly since then its been politics as usual for the Governor.

Get a game plan Bobby. Don't be satisfied with just "playing blacks against whites". Taking advantage of the racial division in Louisiana. Nobody has seemed to notice that Governor Jindal has done next to nothing. 

Come on Bobby you can do it. A little less politics. Give a little more leadership on the economic front. 

Clifford Bryan is a political consultant and  energy policy advisor that helps state, local, and international governments prepare their clean energy infrastructure and develop strategic energy policy.