The U.K.’s Telegraph speculates that McCain’s consideration of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal as a running mate is at least in part aimed at countering the “diversity” argument for Barack Obama as the first African-American president. Jindal would be the first Asian-American on a presidential ticket, the Telegraph points out, although the British paper’s assertion that Jindal might have some effect on African-American support for Obama seems a stretch.
As World Politics Review contributor Turna Ray noted in February, however, a Jindal selection would no doubt please India. Ray noted then that the Times of India and other Indian papers had already latched on to talk of Jindal as a veep candidate. She also wrote that such a selection would have implications for U.S. foreign policy: