Posted on 11/13/2004 10:12:01 AM PST by Theodore R.
Jindal backs Lafayette Republican
Surgeon Boustany in 7th District runoff
By PATRICK COURREGES pcourreges@theadvocate.com Acadiana bureau
Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's newest Republican congressman-elect, said Friday in Lake Charles he is supporting 7th Congressional District Republican candidate Charles Boustany Jr.'s bid to join the state's delegation. Jindal handily won election to Louisiana's 1st District seat in his first run for the post Nov. 2, and spoke in favor of Boustany, a retired heart surgeon from Lafayette, at a Lake Charles Republican Roundtable luncheon.
"I'm proud to call Bobby a friend and hope to call him a colleague," Boustany said.
U.S. Sen.-elect David Vitter, R-Metairie, who left the 1st District to run for the Senate seat he won outright Nov. 2, is expected to travel to Lake Charles today to endorse Boustany.
Boustany faces state Sen. Willie Mount, D-Lake Charles, in a Dec. 4 runoff.
Lake Charles is in Calcasieu Parish and is Mount's geographic base. She finished first in the Nov. 2 voting there with nearly 40,000 votes.
Boustany, who finished first overall, took second place in Mount's home turf, with about 24,000 votes. Boustany took four of the eight parishes included in the 7th District and took the second-most votes in each of the other four.
Jindal said after the meeting that Boustany's having been a practicing physician would give him near-instant credibility on key health-care issues in Congress.
"His experience on the front lines will be very valuable," Jindal said. "It earns him natural respect."
Fellow members of Congress would automatically look to Boustany as an expert on health-care issues, and the relatively few physicians who have served in Congress in the past have quickly become major players on health-care issues, Jindal said.
"If it weren't for 9/11, I think health care would be the biggest issue in America," he said.
Boustany said he and Jindal could work together using their experience working from different ends of the health-care spectrum.
Jindal knows the policy and administrative end, having served as Louisiana's secretary of Health and Hospitals and as a federal health policy official in President Bush's administration, Boustany said.
"We can very quickly take the lead on health-care issues," Boustany said.
Jindal also said Boustany understands national security issues in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and knows that they include not only what happens overseas, but also making sure America's ports are secure.
Jindal said Boustany's experience running his own practice also gives him insight into the problems of small business.
Boustany would support tax incentives that could help businesses create new jobs, Jindal said.
Boustany said he's glad to get Vitter's support in addition to Jindal's and believes that the three of them could mark a change in the state's fortunes.
"We're offering fresh faces, fresh ideas for Louisiana," Boustany said.
Governor Blanco is pusing State Senator Mount now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.