Maginnis: Jindal, Roemer could still factor in big race

This was not the way the Republican presidential primaries were supposed to start, neither for Gov. Bobby Jindal nor candidate Buddy Roemer. Had events unfolded as the two hoped, Jindal would be sharing the glory of his buddy Texas Gov. Rick Perry's resounding victory in the Iowa caucuses, where the Louisiana governor would have drawn big crowds stumping for the early frontrunner. Meanwhile, in the New Hampshire primary days away, Roemer would be surging toward second place behind a rattled Mitt Romney. Had the early race played out as he envisioned it, the former Louisiana governor's message of money corrupting politics would have electrified a national audience in televised debates, prompting a mass of $100 contributions to flow in from across the land. As reality would have it, though, the Perry campaign hobbled into Iowa, a victim of its candidate, who had trouble completing sentences and lists of three. Roemer, who staked his campaign on New Hampshire, registered 2% in a recent poll there, and called it good news. Unforeseen six months ago was the disastrous effects of televised debates on both candidates: Roemer by his exclusion from them, Perry by his performance in them. Wednesday, on the morning after the Iowa caucuses, Jindal and Roemer might appear to have quickly diminishing roles in the race ahead. Instead, given the unexpected so far, both could re-emerge to play significant roles in the November election. Read the full column here.

(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)