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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Clancy Dubos' paradox of Jindal coattails

Clancy is, I think, telling us that Jindal will aid down ballot candidates this year by boring voters to death through the force of his own popularity or something like that.

Besides, before it's all over, a lot of incumbents might be thanking Jindal for helping them get re-elected this year. That includes a lot of legislators who have issues with Jindal.

No, Jindal isn't about to grow coattails and issue endorsements en masse. Still, I believe his personal popularity will have a trickle-down effect in the statewide elections — and quite a few at the local level as well.

I'm not a fan of trickle-down economics, but I totally buy the theory of trickle-down politics. It goes like this: The governor sets the tone. If the governor is popular and untouched by scandal — and if there are no overarching, divisive issues — voters tend to be comfortable with the status quo.

All recent statewide surveys continue to show that Jindal is popular and that voters think the state is on the right track. That's good not just for Jindal but also for incumbents up and down the ballot.


Okay sure. But also, since he's virtually unopposed, he'll also probably buy a few favors with all this money he's sitting on.

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