Bobby Jindal 'reserving judgement' about taking on Obama in 2012

Washington, Dec 26 (ANI): Indian origin Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has said that he is not interested in being President of the United States, but there are indications that he's reserving judgment.

Many in the Republican Party see Bobby Jindal as the Next Big Thing, a political comer who at 37 offers competence, reform and a fresh face for his party in dire need of all three, Politico.com reported.

Jindal, elected governor last year, said flatly this month that he's not interested in being president and is only focused on a 2011 re-election bid - perhaps not surprising at a time when few will admit to White House ambitions.

Still, there are indications, from Jindal and close advisers, that he truly is reserving judgment about taking on President-elect Barack Obama in four years.

If Obama is as formidable then as he appears now, it's unlikely that Jindal, who would be only 41, would risk an uphill race against the incumbent, the website said.

"Tell me where Obama is sitting at the end of 2010," responded a senior adviser to Jindal when asked about a possible run. "Timing is everything."

John Maginnis, a longtime watcher of Louisiana politics and publisher of the LaPolitics Weekly newsletter, put it more bluntly.

"He doesn't want to run against Obama unless Obama is an unmitigated disaster," observed Maginnis. "In 2016, it will be an open seat with no vice president running."

The comparisons to Obama are irresistible to some Republicans - who see Jindal as their own version of the "skinny kid with ... a funny name," as Obama once called himself during his own seemingly improbable White House bid.

One other similarity between the two: A charmed political existence so far. Jindal's first year in office brought historic ethics reforms, deep tax cuts and major funding for workforce training and highway projects.

So, along with his counterpart in Alaska, the Louisiana governor became the undisputed hot ticket for the GOP's circuit of Lincoln and Reagan Day party fundraisers, traditionally a testing ground for presidential aspirants. (ANI)