Jindal clinches book deal
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal clinched a book deal. His autobiography will be published in 2010, two years before the next presidential elections.
Although an important part of the book will deal with Jindal’s life, he will also explain his policy and, thus, political views in it.
A political autobiography is often written by politicians when they want to launch a national campaign. It could be that Jindal plans to run in 2012, but he could also wait until 2016 – he is still young, he can take the time to have as many people as possible read his book.
Jindal said the book will be a mix of biographical material, “lessons I’ve learned throughout my life” and his thoughts on a range of policy issues.
“I just want to offer my ideas and my experiences to the conversation, ” Jindal said.
Much of the work on the book will be done by a co-author, Peter Schweizer, a Florida writer whose previous work includes nonfiction books about the Bush family and President Reagan, and a novel co-authored with former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.
“One of the reasons I’m doing this with a co-author is to make sure there’s somebody else doing a lot of the heavy lifting, ” Jindal said, adding that he expects that most of his work on the book will be in the evenings and on weekends.
The deal will rather obviously fuel speculations about his ambitions. Jindal is one of the most popular conservative politicians in the United States. Among Republican activists at least. He may not be an inspiring speaker like President Obama, but he is an ideological conservative who knows how to govern. Additionally, he is able to explain to voters why government based on conservative principles helps them.
An autobiography is a great way to make the public at large comfortable with who you are, and how you came to be where you are today. Smart move for a man with national ambitions.
