US Presidential race: Republican Bobby Jindal gains popularity in Iowa
Jindal has a 59 per cent favourability rating against a 12 per cent unfavourability rating
Washington: Popularity of Indian-American Bobby Jindal, a Republican presidential aspirant, has increased significantly in the crucial swing State of Iowa, but his national popularity ratings remains abysmally low, latest opinion polls have shown.
"It's worth noting that Bobby Jindal enjoys more support in Iowa than he does nationally. He is among the top ten candidates in Iowa, but his showing in the national polls makes it unlikely he will gain entry to the first debate," Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute said after the release of latest polling data.
According to the poll, Jindal has a 59% favourability rating against a 12% unfavourability rating. However, in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, Jindal is ranked 12 with just 2% of the popular votes in the crowded GOP presidential candidates. Donald Trump with 24% is leading the race, followed by Scott Walker (13%) and Jeb Bush (12%).
Following latest Iowa opinion poll results, Jindal said his presidential campaign is gaining momentum. "I've been campaigning hard in Iowa ever since I announced for President a little less than a month ago. Our crowds have been growing each day, and it's starting to show," he said.
"I'm not a big believer in polls, but a new one came out this morning that shows we've got the momentum. We're seeing huge movement from less than three weeks of campaigning," Jindal said.
Jindal performed remarkably well at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa last week.
"The Republican who did best at the event was Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. He demonstrated his political talent on Saturday. Jindal received a number of spontaneous standing ovations, including one that lasted nearly half a minute after he bashed the media for having a liberal, pro-Obama bias," The Guardian reported.
Jindal won over the crowd by consistently offering up red meat with lines like "America did not create religious liberty, religious liberty created the United States of America" while bashing the supreme court on same-sex marriage,' the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, in an interview to The New York Times, Donanld Trump, who is now leading the Republican presidential race, dismissed Jindal's candidacy.
"You get guys like Perry, he's not registering, Bobby Jindal was very vehement – oh, bah bah. I think he's at zero," Trump was quoted as saying by the daily.