Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, the first Indian-American governor of a U.S. state, will speak at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. tonight. The 37-year-old first-generation American is a rising star in the Republican party, and at one point there was even talk of a V.P. spot. But with South Asian Americans representing a swing voting group, how did Jindal come to be a solid social conservative and the governor of a southern state?

Jindal was born in Louisiana shortly after his parents arrived there to go to grad school. Raised a Hindu by parents who until recently were Democrats, Jindal converted to Catholicism at Brown University. His social conservatism is rooted in this faith, especially his opposition to abortion.

He also believes that immigration should be restricted. Of his position on immigration, Jindal told the New York Times Magazine,

When done properly, when people follow the rules like my parents did, it’s good for those families… I don’t think it’s healthy when you’ve got as many as 12 million people here illegally. The way that we’re doing it now is not truly offering them the American dream.

Jindal, who was appointed Secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals in 1996, at the startlingly young age of 25, has experienced a rapid rise in the Republican Party. He was elected to Congress in 2004 and governor in 2007. His success has been followed and cheered in India, where after the 2007 election his cousin told the Times of India,

We are really proud that Bobby has finally made it and won the Governor’s race. It’s a great honour not just for our family, but Punjab and the nation as well as the son of this soil have achieved something really big.