Another one from the “likely” column, this time taking a small step of forming an exploratory committee before deciding fully on launching an official campaign. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will be using his exploratory committee for travel and to determine if he has support to run for president in 2016.
Report from The Week:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) on Monday announced he is forming a presidential exploratory committee to weigh a potential 2016 White House run.
“If I run, my candidacy will be based on the idea that the American people are ready to try a dramatically different direction,” Jindal said in a statement. “Not a course correction, but a dramatically different path.”
A second-term governor, Jindal built a reputation as a staunch conservative with a penchant for symbolically sparring with the Obama administration; he filed suit over the Common Core education standards, offered a plan to replace ObamaCare, and, in a breach of protocol, infamously ripped the president after a bipartisan meeting in Washington last year. Early 2016 polls show Jindal running in the low single digits.
With budget woes in his home state, Jindal has had a tough time gaining any national traction. His nature as a governor is more along the lines of a Ted Cruz versus a Scott Walker type of personality. Jindal holds very strong socially conservative views and has not been afraid to push that agenda during his tenure as governor. I would suspect his full decision comes sometime in late June following the end of the Louisiana legislative session.
