Piyush (call me Bobby) Jindal - Face of the Future?

Bobby Jindal's response to Obama's not-quite-State-of-the-Union has generated its share of scorn and criticism - not the least of Bobby's problems being his made-up story about Sheriff Harry Lee during Hurricane Katrina that his staff has had to backtrack in numerous ways.

Nevertheless it's clear this has catapulted him to the forefront of a party that is increasingly on the ropes and impoverished for new faces and fresh ideas (failing which it has shown that it will settle for new faces with stale ideas).

Bobby's 15 minutes of fame has included a segment on 60 minutes in which I found the following interesting observations:

But that sunny "Leave it to Beaver" optimism is classic Bobby Jindal, a man so determined to be true blue American, he changed his name.....

When he was born, Jindal was named Piyush. Asked where the name Bobby came from, Jindal told Safer, "Every day after school, I'd come home and I'd watch 'The Brady Bunch.' And I identified with Bobby, you know? He was about my age, and Bobby stuck."....

But much of his Indian heritage didn't stick. In high school, he converted from his parents' Hindu faith to Catholicism, and he rejected their political party as well.....

"When we sent a reporter and photographer to India to write about his family and their origins, the Jindal family was very queasy about that undertaking," Amoss said....

He's also religious and conservative. He supports the teaching of intelligent design, wants to get tough on illegal immigration, is against stem cell research and abortion rights, and yet continues to challenge his own party.....

Whatta guy! Makes every Indian proud, doesn't he?