I want to downvote this so bad. Can we leave election s**t alone for at least a couple of years?

lol.

I am going to, for the most part, I just think it's funny how the 2012 primaries are already starting.

Actually, they started last year.

Wow. Americans are WAY too eager to plan this sort of stuff.

One of our parties announced a leadership convention for the end of April, and we all (Canadians) think that's WAY far into the future!

I just think that with the unpredictable economic and political future, it's almost silly to pick someone now, when in 3 or 4 years another person might be better suited to the job.

I Jindal keeps his nose clean, he has a great chance at becoming a real leader in the party.

HOWEVER... his chances in 2012 are highly conditional.

If P-E Obama does a good job over the next few years, and stays popular, then the Republicans will focus more on the individual Senate and House races, not on the White House. They'll probably nominate someone to be a place-holder, a "you probably won't win, but you won't embarrass us either" person.

This will be similar to what happened for Clinton in 1996... Bob Dole wasn't going to beat him, rather it was a "last hurrah" for him, a "this is what we are," instance... even though his chances were slim and none.

With this in mind, they probably won't put someone like Jindal up against Obama, if they don't think he has a realistic chance of winning. They might put him up as VP, just to get his name out there, and some national exposure... but not really up against him one on one.

If P-E Obama's popularity starts to fall, he backs down on many of his promises, and people begin to see him as "just another politician," then someone like Jindal might have a good chance of unseating him in 2012... but only if he has a good chance of winning. In my mind, there is no sense in wasting a personality like Gov. Jindal, to a race he couldn't possibly win.

(Of course, this also begs the question of "Who will run for VP with Obama in 2012?" I can't imagine Biden running with him again, as it wouldn’t really give the Democrats any kind of advantage in 2016. Biden would be too old to run for President then, and thusly wouldn't really prepare the party for a tougher race in '16. But perhaps that talk is best for another day too...)