Vampire Kristol: Vice President Jindal?

Crooks and Liars:

The headline on Bill Kristol’s NYT column today reads, “McCain-Jindal?” It suggests to the reader that the column is about John McCain considering Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for the Republican presidential ticket, as has been rumored elsewhere. As it turns out, the first three-fourths of Kristol’s column was actually about Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama’s chances in November.

Eventually, at the end, Kristol gets around to the point.

[I]n separate conversations last week, no fewer than four McCain staffers and advisers mentioned as a possible vice-presidential pick the 36-year-old Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal.

They’re tempted by the idea of picking someone so young, with real accomplishments and a strong reformist streak.

It might also be a way to confront the issue of McCain’s age (71), which private polls and focus groups suggest could be a real problem. A Jindal pick would implicitly acknowledge the questions and raise the ante. The message would be: “You want generational change? You can get it with McCain-Jindal — without risking a liberal and inexperienced Obama as commander in chief.” I would add that it was after McCain spent considerable time with Jindal in New Orleans recently, and reportedly found him, as he has before, personally engaging and intellectually impressive, that the campaign’s informal name-dropping of Jindal began.