DAVID GREENE, HOST:
The Republican Party has been trying to reflect the changing face of America. This country is rapidly becoming more diverse. And for the GOP, one bright spot has been Bobby Jindal. He's the youthful governor of Louisiana, son of immigrants from India - and yesterday, this.
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BOBBY JINDAL: I'm running for president of the greatest country in the world, the United States of America.
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GREENE: But as Sarah McCammon reports from New Orleans, Jindal faces tough odds.
SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE: You know those YouTube videos where parents gather their kids in the living room for a big announcement?
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JINDAL: OK, so mommy and daddy wanted to talk to you.
MCCAMMON: Usually it's something like a trip to Disneyland or a new baby sister or brother. But in this grainy video released by his campaign, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his wife Supriya sit with their kids around a patio table and announce, dad's running for president.
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JINDAL: So is that a surprise? Or you...
MCCAMMON: Not much of one since the Jindal kids barely blink. No one in Louisiana is really surprised that Jindal's running, says Stephanie Grace, a political columnist for The New Orleans Advocate. She says he's been gearing up for a White House run for years.
STEPHANIE GRACE: He's got a lot of confidence, and he has reason to have confidence.
MCCAMMON: Jindal has an impressive resume. The Ivy Leaguer and Rhodes scholar became Louisiana's health secretary at just 24. He was elected to Congress at 33 and became governor in 2008 at 36. But Grace says his reputation as a political prodigy has slipped in the past couple of years as Louisiana has faced a budget crisis.
GRACE: Really, I think the feeling is that he is not dealing with it in a responsible way in order to run his presidential campaign. So there's really a feeling that he's sacrificing Louisiana for his own ambition.
MCCAMMON: Grace says Jindal's tax cuts and a no-new-taxes pledge have squeezed funding for health care and the state's universities. Jindal made no apologies for those cuts as he launched his bid for the White House.
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JINDAL: My response to the big government crowd is simply this - yes, I am guilty as charged, and our state is better off for it today.
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MCCAMMON: But that's far from a widely held opinion in Louisiana. Jindal's approval ratings have plummeted to the low 30s, making him less popular than President Obama in this conservative state.
At Sunshine Cafe in the suburb of Metairie, June Kimball stands behind the cash register. As a mother of two college students, she says she cares about Jindal's cuts to higher education.
JUNE KIMBALL: I worry about the future. I worry about my children's children.
MCCAMMON: Although many Republicans in Louisiana have soured on Jindal, his campaign believes he'll be a hit with conservative religious voters who share his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.
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JINDAL: I know that some believe I talk about my faith too much, but I will not be silenced.
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MCCAMMON: Conservative Republicans have lots of choices. Jindal is the 13th major primary candidate. So far, he's drawing just 1 or 2 percent support in recent polls of GOP voters. For NPR News, I'm Sarah McCammon in New Orleans. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
