Louisiana prefers Jindal to corruption

Christian Science Monitor:

Little is ordinary about Louisiana's new governor, Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. He's the nation's youngest governor, the first whose parents are from India, and his state's first nonwhite chief executive since Reconstruction. A convert from Hinduism to Catholicism, he likes fast food and rises early – like 3 a.m. – to lift weights.

But all that pales in comparison to the extraordinary task he's promised to undertake: cleaning up a state government widely considered one of the most corruption-prone in America. Perhaps equally extraordinary: Some political observers say he can do it. Governor Jindal was inaugurated here in Baton Rouge Monday amid the booms of a 19-cannon salute and a children's choir singing "The Crawdad Song."

"We've had this sort of political revolution before," says Wayne Parent, a political scientist at Louisiana State University here in Baton Rouge. "Louisiana is wellknown for dramatically throwing someone out and dramatically throwing other people in, but there's something different in Jindal – not in the person, but the situation." In a word, the aftermath of hurricane Katrina has shaken Louisiana politics to its core.

With government flaws exposed by the 2005 storm, "the stars are now aligning" for deep reforms in a state infamous for having more imprisoned politicians per capita than any other, Jindal says.

"After years of scandals and jokes, it's almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy that there was this Louisiana way. Now, people are optimistic that we can actually do something about it," he adds.

Jindal used that message to win 60 of the state's 64 parishes – the biggest margin by a nonincumbent in Louisiana history.

"The storms changed the psyche of Louisiana voters and people, because they saw the consequences of corruption," he says. "A lot of the institutions that weren't working before the storm have been damaged, and it's now up to the state to decide how to rebuild, or whether to rebuild, and how to provide those services. No one is arguing the storm was a good thing, but out of that destruction there is a choice about how we rebuild."

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Jindal appears ready to seize the opportunity to change the political culture of Louisiana. Powerful force will continue to try to corrupt those around him if they can not get to him. That is why the concentration on ethics reform has to come first. Jindal is probably the smartest governor ever elected in Louisiana which hopefully will give him an advantage. He also has demonstrated an ability to connect the voters.

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"Most boys that smart ain't got no common sense, but he's got common sense," says Tyrone Burns, a ham-radio operator eating breakfast at Navalle's doughnut shop in Springfield, La.

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He has some common sense and it appears that many in Louisiana are eager to see him use it.