India and US - III

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That man from Louisiana
Robert M. HathawayPosted online: Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 0000 hrs Print Email

Robert M. Hathaway
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Many, in the United States and abroad, have been dismayed by the intolerance and downright ugliness that has crept into American politics since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Yet, for all the unseemliness in the American political firmament today, there is also reason for satisfaction: apparently, it is the season for shattering glass ceilings erected long ago by prejudice and ignorance.

Hillary Clinton is the odds-on favourite to become the first woman elected president of the United States. If Clinton falters, Barack Obama would then have a very realistic chance of becoming America’s first black president. On the Republican side, Mitt Romney, one of the leading contenders for his party’s nomination, would be the first president of Mormon faith in US history. And now Bobby Jindal, the son of Punjabi Hindus, has been elected governor of Louisiana, the highest elected office ever won by an Indian-American.

Take note: Jindal was elected not in liberal Massachusetts or hip San Francisco, but in a politically and culturally conservative southern state that is still struggling with the racial demons of the past. Louisiana has figured in the news recently as the home of Jena, the town where nooses hanging from a schoolyard tree triggered school fights that resulted in five black students being charged with attempted murder — an apparent miscarriage of justice that set off nationwide protests. Yes, that Louisiana.

In some respects, Jindal’s triumph represents less of a breakthrough than the election of Clinton or Obama would. He had already shown his ability to win elected office in Louisiana; three years ago, voters in the state’s first congressional district sent him to Washington as the first Indian-American elected to the US Congress in nearly half a century.

Moreover, having converted from Hinduism as a boy, he is Catholic in one of the most Catholic states in the country (nearly a third of the state’s population). This religious affiliation may have helped him seem less ‘foreign’ to many voters. Also as a boy, he anglicised his name, abandoning Piyush for the quintessentially American ‘Bobby.’ And his political and economic conservatism places him squarely within the political mainstream of a state that gave George W. Bush 57 per cent of its vote in the 2004 presidential election.

Jindal fared poorly in the predominantly black precincts of the state. One post-election analysis estimated that he won 63 per cent of the white vote but only about 10 per cent of the black vote. On the other hand, he carried many of the deeply conservative portions of the state that, not long ago, supported the gubernatorial campaign of the Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Jindal’s election comes at a time of rising anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States. One contender for the Republican presidential nomination has based his candidacy almost entirely on a ‘get tough’ approach to illegal immigration. More broadly, many Americans worry that the United States is somehow losing its ‘American’ character because of the influx of newcomers, many of them from Latin America. In this context, Jindal’s triumph seems a vote for tolerance and pluralism.

But most probably, his victory represents a vote for competence — in the face of the hapless response by Democratic state and local officials to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina two years ago — and an expression of disgust with Louisiana’s richly deserved reputation for corruption. His impressive resume lent credibility to his claims that he could provide good governance to a state that has known very little of that commodity over the years.

Members of the Indian-American community have embraced his victory, and there is some talk that Jindal could help bring that community — which has traditionally leaned toward the Democratic party — into the Republican fold. On the other hand, his conservatism places him at odds with the views of many — probably a majority — of Indian-Americans. For instance, he opposes hate crimes legislation, favoured by many minorities as a necessary legal protection.

The recent years have seen a lot of happy talk about the Indian-American community coming of age politically. The community’s role in persuading the US Congress to support President Bush’s civilian nuclear agreement with India is often cited as a case in point. The large sums of money donated by the community to political candidates is seen as another indication that Indian-Americans have become key players in the political arena. Jindal’s victory in Louisiana will now be trumpeted as further proof that the community has joined the political mainstream.

Such claims ought to be tempered. In the case of the nuclear agreement — now shelved, at least temporarily, until New Delhi can sort out its political differences — it is exceedingly difficult to substantiate the boasts of community leaders who brag that they delivered Congress. It is one thing to hire lobbyists, host political fund-raisers, and visit congressional offices. It is quite another to demonstrate that these efforts actually swayed votes.

Compared to 20 years ago, the Indian-American community has made giant strides in claiming its right to participate fully in the American political process. Still, Indian-Americans must take care to distinguish between the appearance of power and the actual possession of power. Too often, they still seem willing to accept photo-ops and largely meaningless congressional resolutions commemorating Diwali as a substitute for genuine influence.

Even so, Jindal’s electoral success is a source of community pride. And given the size and affluence of the Indian-American community, the smart would bet that there will soon be other Bobby Jindals rising to positions of political prominence.

Jindal’s first comments to supporters following his victory touched not on his election triumph, but on the state university’s football win over an arch rival earlier in the day. In this understanding of what most voters actually care about, he truly demonstrated his American roots. And that’s why he won.