Louisiana governor turned dead-last Presidential hopeful, Bobby Jindal, has had a tough week on social media.
First he was eviscerated in a twitter AMA turned troll feeding frenzy, and now he's facing harsh criticism from a long standing Louisiana icon--the venerable Mud-Bug.*
Less than two weeks ago, a friend of mine shared a picture of a crawfish from the aptly named Facebook group "Can this Crawfish get more likes than Bobby Jindal?"
I chuckled, and subscribed.
Since then, Candidate Crawfish has popped up in my news feed several times a day, every day. And with every new picture has come a hundred new likes. And then a thousand. And then ten thousand more.
What started as a simple joke is quickly spiraling into a viral lightning rod in Louisiana.
And now Crawfish has announced he will be applying to the Federal Election Commission to join the already crowded Presidential primary contest.
Sadly we live in a drab and humorless time in which such a candidate will not likely be given official approval.
Probably because he would embarrass Bobby, and win--atleast in Louisiana.
With his in-state approval rating hovering around 32%, Bobby Jindal is loathed at home. In a state redder than a boiled crawdaddy, Bobby Jindal is less popular than Barack Obama.
Bobby's gaffes, sins, and outright buffoonery are at this point beyond enumeration.
From his now infamous (and incredibly creepy) hidden camera ad campaign, to the over billion dollar surplus he lost while in office, Bobby Jindal has been a complete disaster.
And this is coming from a state intimately familiar with complete disasters.
Crawfish has taken great pains to draw a firm distinction between himself and the Governor.
While Bobby Jindal was throwing an apoplectic fit over the Supreme Court's marriage equality decision, Crawfish was racking up the 'likes' by letting folks know exactly where he stands--about two inches off the ground, and not in the way of any same-sex marriages.
Bobby on the other hand was ready to get rid of the entire Supreme Court, and managed to make sure Louisiana was the last state to issue a marriage license.
Crawfish has his work cut out for him, not because Bobby Jindal has proven himself a formidable opponent but because at some point it becomes hard to satirize a clown.
What the hell kind of campaign slogan is that? What does that even mean? You're well rested? The citizens of Louisiana might be able to rest easy too--if they had access to affordable healthcare via a state run exchange or the Medicaid expansion.
I guess the 16% of Louisiana citizens without health insurance will just have to make do, they should be used to it after all.
Louisianaians are known for their political loyalty. Hell, we elected Edwin Edwards four times, despite three indictments, and then let him run for congress once he got out of federal pen.
Bobby Jindal will know no such love from us.
He ought to start looking for apartments in Houston or Atlanta, because he sure as hell won't be living in the White House.
And if Crawfish's candidacy tells us anything, it's that he won't be welcome back in the Bayou State anytime soon either.
*Crawfish, also known as Crayfish, Crawdaddies, and Mudbugs are actually from the species Astacoidea--making them members of the lobster family. Crawfish do not take offense to the nom de guerre "Mudbug," but rather celebrate it as part of their Louisiana heritage. They go well in etouffee and seafood gumbo, but are traditionally served boiled; with corn and potatoes.