Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul Reportedly Preparing To Exit Presidential Race
Many within the GOP establishment — including Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul — are finally waking up to an inconvenient truth. Namely, this election cycle is a season for outsiders. As Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, and Ben Carson surge in the polls, certain candidates who enjoyed mass quantities of encouragement and support from the Republican old guard are falling by the wayside with increasing speed, like Texas Governor Rick Perry, who many Republicans viewed as a shoo-in for the nomination and who suspended his campaign two weeks ago. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a favorite among social conservatives, followed suit a short time later, calling on his fellow republicans to band together and take frontrunner Donald Trump out of contention for the good of the party.
Politico cites “GOP insiders” who indicate that Bobby Jindal will withdraw from the quest to secure the Republican nomination in the near future. The politically-oriented site quoted one Iowa Republican source who said that Jindal “has nothing going on” in that crucial primary state. Another source stated that Jindal’s recent attacks on Donald Trump have made him appear desperate. For his part, Donald Trump has barely even acknowledged that Jindal is part of the race, recently brushing off the Louisiana governor’s critiques with the cold retort: “I don’t respond to people with one percent support.”
Jindal’s campaign was, at one time, highly anticipated by many Republicans, but he has consistently failed to garner much attention since his lackluster entrance into the race. Indeed, while Jindal tried to woo a family-values-oriented base with a video of him telling his kids that he had decided to run, the underwhelmed response of his kids almost seemed like a preview of the malaise that would follow the Louisiana Governor on the trail.
Bobby Jindal responded to the Politico report through his staff, who dismissed assertions that he will quit the race as “B.S.”
Republicans in New Hampshire, another important proving ground for candidates, are skeptical of Rand Paul’s ability to go the distance, as well. One GOP insider told Politico that the Republican Party in Paul’s home state of Kentucky will soon begin pressuring the candidate to shift his focus from the presidential race to a reelection campaign for his Senatorial seat. Another GOP source leveled harsh criticism against Rand Paul for his performance in the presidential campaign thus far.
“Paul’s making no traction in the polls, and he’s the only one who also faces re-election next year in a race that could unnecessarily complicate our Party’s chances of holding the Senate majority… His dad came in second to Romney in the New Hampshire primary in 2012, but so far, Rand has shown no ability to win over those same supporters, or harness that same energy or get those same liberty-minded wing of the party behind his candidacy.”
Rand Paul has also taken on Trump via public comments, but he emerged from those exchanges without much to show for his efforts. At the second GOP debate, Donald Trump even took the fight directly to Rand Paul, attacking him right off the bat by saying that Paul didn’t even belong on the same stage as the other candidates. Political commentators, including Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, noted that Rand Paul had a hard time recovering from Donald Trump’s opening salvo.
Quoting Politico, International Business Times noted that former New York Governor George Pataki is likely to withdraw from the race in the coming weeks, joining Bobby Jindal and Rand Paul on the sidelines. IBT cited polling data indicating that Paul is currently at three percent, while Jindal and Pataki have zero percent support amongst GOP voters.
[Photos by Sean Rayford / Getty Images]
