Jindal Follows the Money Across U.S.

MARCH 30, 2009 POLITICS / JOHN MAGINNIS


The governor has been catching flak for his frequent flying
around the country to attend fundraising events in his honor.
He justifies the trips as opportunities to tell out-of-
state audiences the good news about Louisiana breaking from
its corrupt past through the great new ethics laws he signed
last year. And if someone in San Diego or Boston wants to
express their admiration by writing a $5,000 check, then it's
a win-win, right?

There's a lot of money in being the future of the
Republican Party. The great thing about being the future of
anything is that supporters, at this point, are more
interested in potential than in results. That suits Bobby
Jindal fine. These days he is seen less as a front-line
presidential contender in 2012 and more as a reliable
messenger of party principles who is going to be around for
awhile. What player wouldn't want to put a modest bet down on
someone like that?

For his part, Jindal can't resist the urge to follow the
money, given his humble beginnings dialing for dollars. He
started out in 2003 with nothing but a phone line and Mike
Foster's list of campaign contributors, and grew from there.
In 2007, over 85 percent of all campaign contributions in the
governor's race went to him. Still he had to strive to match
the deep pockets of two millionaire opponents.

Having raised $3.5 million last year, at the going rate he
could easily bank over $10 million by when his re-election
campaign starts (that is, if his last campaign ever stopped).
And, no, it's not enough. Though he raised his money the old-
fashioned way--he asked for it--he knows there could always be
a well-heeled challenger who can write one check to match him.

It doesn't seem to bother Jindal that many of his loyal
local supporters are quite fed up with his constant national
tour. But he will give fundraising a rest once the legislative
session starts later this month, when the governor is barred
from accepting or soliciting contributions until 30 days after
lawmakers adjourn in late June.

If he stays close to home through mid-summer, the carping
will lie down, in time for him to launch his fall financial
offensive.

Besides the time the governor spends away from the state,
there is the question of what effect do contributions have on
decisions he and his administration make, from jobs and
appointments to contracts.

Citizens would know already what contributors got for their
money, had Gov. Jindal not vetoed a bill to reveal just that.
Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, managed to pass a bill last
session to make elected officials report the names of
contributors that they hired or they appointed to boards and
commissions. Abramson said he communicated with the governor's
staff for months to resolve any problems with the bill. But
Jindal vetoed it anyway, citing a drafting error, which the
author didn't see as a defect.

If the governor does not have to disclose that information,
an enterprising reporter did it for him, and us. Independent
journalist Jeremy Alford's research showed that about 200 of
the Jindal's contributors, who gave a combined $784,000 in
2007-08, were appointed by him to 76 boards and commissions.
Eleven appointees to the Board of Commerce & Industry,
which grants millions of dollars worth of industrial tax
exemptions, contributed a combined $49,000. Four appointees to
the University of Louisiana System board gave $63,000;
Louisiana Recovery Authority members, $57,000; Superdome
Commission members, $45,000; State Mineral Board members,
$35,000.

Viewed another way, those 200 donors made up less than 1
percent of Jindal's 23,000 contributors, and the $784,000 they
gave comprised only 5 percent of the $14.7 million he raised
over two years.

One could say: if everybody buys you nobody owns you.
Jindal could have said that by signing Abramson's bill, which
he may again get the opportunity to do in the coming session.
If the governor sees nothing wrong with the relationship
between his contributors and his appointments, he has no good
reason not to connect the dots on his own. Or someone else
will.