Responding to Leon
Leon Wolf at Redstate has a long post on vice-presidential politics, mainly targeting the Club's criticisms of Bobby Jindal. Wolf is not particularly bothered by Jindal's refusal to veto a legislative pay raise and is not sufficiently persuaded that Jindal opposed a tax cut. He further argues that my criticism is over the top and part of a not-so-secret campaign to put Sanford on the ticket. Let me tackle each criticism one by one.
First, I am by no means engaging in a witch hunt against Bobby Jindal. My criticism has long been that his record is completely disproportionate to the recent conservative love feast. From Rush Limbaugh declaring Bobby Jindal the "next Ronald Reagan" to the blogosphere's teenage-like crush, you would think Jindal has been a superstar in Congress and as governor. That is not the case.
As a congressman for three years, Jindal's record on economic issues was decidedly uninspiring. His disappointing votes included:
A vote against CAFTA
A vote to restrict 527's free speech
A vote for the 2007 Farm Bill, which contained a tax increase. Jindal was 1 of 19 Republicans to vote for the bill and violated his anti-tax pledge in the process.
A vote for the CEO pay bill
A vote for Pelosi's minimum wage increase
Votes against the conservative Republican Study Committee budget in 2006 and 2007
Mild support for cap-and-trade
As for Jindal's initial opposition to an income tax cut, it was well documented in Louisiana newspaper articles. See the Times-Picayune and the AP. His refusal to veto the legislative pay raise is particularly troubling since Jindal pledged to veto such a pay raise during his campaign.
I have praised Jindal where it is deserved and I would love to be proven wrong over the coming years. But so far, Jindal has not persuaded me that he will be a consistently strong advocate for limited-government, free-market policies.
As for Leon's problem with the Club's praise of Mark Sanford, I plead guilty to being impressed with the South Carolina governor. But I think Sanford's record is far more worthy of praise than many of the other names mentioned as VP possibilities, including Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, and Charlie Crist. That is not to say that these governors do not have impressive achievements to tout. Still, these figures do not have the experience and conservative credentials that Sanford does, as has been well-documented throughout the Club's blog. And I understand that Sanford is another white male from a safe Republican state. One can make political arguments in favor of Jindal, Pawlenty, or Crist or political arguments against Sanford. But it is intellectually dishonest for conservatives to argue that Pawlenty or Jindal are conservative superstars when they really mean "Pawlenty can win Minnesota" or "Jindal adds diversity to the ticket."
Finally, Leon Wolf continues to plug Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri. My argument against Carcieri has always been one of competence rather than ideology. Rhode Island's economy is in shambles and has been for some time now. Without a serious change in direction, there is a good chance the state is headed for bankruptcy. I'm not sure that's the kind of economic credentials McCain wants on the ticket.
