Political Horizons for Feb. 19, 2012

Gov. Bobby Jindal successfully has replaced the “politics spicy as their gumbo” clichés favored by national media back in the day when they wrote about Louisiana’s quaint ways.

Instead of quoting New Orleans cabbies and staffers at French Quarter hotels, giants of conservative journalism — Cal Thomas, Fred Barnes, for instance — appea to research no further than a Jindal “talking points” memo.

For instance, Jindal likes to brag — and conservative media likes to report — that he, alone, is responsible for slashing spending in the state budget. Invariably missing from these reports is the impact of the end of federal recovery dollars, over which Jindal had little control; while the state general fund, over which he has a great deal of influence, remains pretty much the same.

The newest narrative, repeated by The Wall Street Journal, is that Jindal is overcoming great resistance in his “moon shot” to revamp public schools. Though no administration education revamp bills have yet been filed for a legislative session that begins March 12, Jindal is proposing to adopt more of the national Republican Party’s ideas to privatize public schools than any other GOP governor in the nation. In the past year, Republican governors have passed statewide voucher programs for low- and-moderate-income families in Indiana and for special needs students in Arizona and Ohio. GOP governors in Wisconsin and Florida are expanding existing voucher programs.

The Wall Street Journal wrote: “Mr. Jindal wants to create America’s largest school voucher program, broadest parental choice system and toughest teacher accountability regime — all in one legislative session. Any one of those would be a big win, but all three could make the state the first to effectively dismantle a public education monopoly.”

Lobbyists and legislators around the State Capitol say passage is inevitable.

When asked to handicap the package’s chances, Melissa Flournoy, one of the loudest critics of public school privatization, said: “Jindal gets everything he wants.”

A former state representative who is director of the Coalition for Louisiana Progress, Flournoy acknowledges that the Louisiana norm is for the Legislature to give a governor whatever he wants. “We need to encourage those legislators to be more independent and mindful about what the implications are. Gov. Jindal is playing to a national audience. The legislators are playing to a home audience,” Flournoy said.

A majority of the Louisiana Legislature’s class of 2012 was elected with the help of Jindal. The governor handpicked the leaders of the allegedly co-equal branch of government. He co-opted state Sen. John Alario, R-Westwego, Louisiana’s most-gifted legislative Svengali, as his floor general.

Democratic Baton Rouge state Rep. Patricia Smith, chairman of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus and a former East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member, said “it is evident” that a good many legislators will vote for the governor’s package, whatever the details turn out to be. “That’s the unfortunate truth,” she said.

Additionally, Smith said, Jindal’s bullying public relations tactics assure that people with alternative ideas endure withering personal criticism.

Though not directly on-point, one example that shows the extent of the governor’s apparent involvement in the shaping of how his ideas are reported could be the Feb. 9 memo LSU System President John Lombardi sent to LSU leadership.

Once an eloquent voice for visions that differ from the governor’s, Lombardi wrote that in return for budget cuts that are not as devastating as in the past, Jindal wanted university leaders, in their public statements, to “avoid negative comments” and to “thank the administration for their attention and concern.”

Jindal’s biggest advantage is the lack of a coordinated opposition.

Democrats reacted only last week when the Louisiana House caucus head, state Rep. John Bel Edwards, of Amite, articulated criticism of some of Jindal’s proposals.

The two competing teacher unions — the Louisiana Association of Educators and the Louisiana Federation of Teachers — never act in tandem.

None of the alternatives being floated by critics use catchy slogans like those used by the GOP to sell privatization.

Just like at Disney World, regardless of how entertaining the narrative that builds anticipation while waiting in line, Jindal’s “moon shot” will end as expected: with riders in the gift shop wondering how to pay the bill.

Mark Ballard is editor of The Advocate’s Capitol news bureau. His email address is [e-mail].