Peggy Noonan had an interesting piece in yesterday’s WSJ concerning the lack of a sense of place regarding the presidential candidates. As in - “where are they from?” She points out that in the past we easily identified candidates from their hometown or region, but this isn’t true for either Obama or McCain. They could be from anywhere in the US as much as they are from anywhere in particular.
This is definitely true of Bobby Jindal too. Jindal was born here but he is not of here. There is nothing about him that tells you that he is a Louisianian the way you would say that Randy Ewing is from North Louisiana, Blanco is from the Lafayette area or that Steve Scalise is from Jefferson Parish. Jindal just doesn’t have the same shared experiences. Jindal was born and went to high school in Baton Rouge, but does anyone in Baton Rouge really say, “Ah, Jindal, he’s just a good old Baton Rouge boy?”
People that have a strong sense of place don’t move around easily. Look at how Jindal moved from Baton Rouge to Kenner to run for Congress? It was seamless. He suddenly became a Kenner man. He moved in as quickly as he moved out.
Jindal is a master at knowing what people from outside of Louisiana love about Louisiana. Take food and football, for example. He loves to talk about these subjects, but they are often in cliched style. When Steve Scalise talks about liking Shrimp Creole, you can imagine his grandmother making the dish for him. But is this the same for Jindal? Do those same images for Scalise pop up into your mind? When Jindal and Scalise go to their respective high school reunions chances are Scalise is able to blend into the crowd very easily because his experiences are very common with his classmates. Jindal though sticks out, and it isn’t necessarily because of his obvious Indian heritage. He sticks out the same way that anyone would who hasn’t grown roots yet.
Nonetheless it is a credit to Jindal that he has been able to overcome this lack of place. It helps understand the Obama campaign a bit more. And this is part of the reason why Jindal identifies with Obama. They have similar backgrounds in this regard.
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The End of Placeness
August 15, 2008; Page A11
The end of placeness is one of the features of the campaign. I do not like it.
Pretend you are not a political sophisticate and regular watcher of the presidential race as it unfolds on all media platforms. Pretend, that is, that you are normal.
OK, quick, close your eyes. Where is Barack Obama from?
He’s from Young. He’s from the town of Smooth in the state of Well Educated. He’s from TV.
John McCain? He’s from Military. He’s from Vietnam Township in the Sunbelt state.
Chicago? That’s where Mr. Obama wound up. Modern but Midwestern: a perfect place to begin what might become a national career. Arizona? That’s where Mr. McCain settled, a perfect place from which to launch a more or less conservative career in the 1980s.
Neither man has or gives a strong sense of place in the sense that American politicians almost always have, since Mr. Jefferson of Virginia, and Abe Lincoln of Illinois, and FDR of New York, and JFK of Massachusetts. Even Bill Clinton was from a town called Hope, in Arkansas, even if Hope was really Hot Springs. And in spite of his New England pedigree, George W. Bush was a Texan, as was, vividly, LBJ.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121874344365941765.html?mod=todays_columnists