Bobby Jindal was right: It just wasn’t his time.
Many things could be said about the Louisiana governor’s campaign, which he chose to end on Monday. He was the first candidate to present a detailed plan to replace Obamacare. His desire to be president was obvious and had been long before he announced he was running. At one point, his campaign even seemed to be gaining some traction in Iowa.
But Jindal faced several obstacles that proved insurmountable. His approval ratings in his conservative home state had plunged to levels low enough that it might elect Democratic Louisiana governor this Saturday. In the presidential primary race, Jindal was squaring off against better-known and better-liked governors from bigger states, who also had more money.
Either way, Jindal did the right thing, as Scott Walker did before him and as two of the five Democratic candidates have also done, getting out rather than pursuing a no-hope candidacy to the bitter end.
It’s time a few other GOP candidates did the same. Some of their campaigns are merely wasting donor money and their presence is cluttering the GOP field and making it harder for Republican voters to focus on the importance of coalescing behind a serious candidate capable both of being elected and of actually governing.
The obvious figures in this category are men whose poll results resemble binary code — almost entirely ones and zeroes. Given their complete lack of traction both nationally and in any state, it is time for George Pataki, Jim Gilmore and Lindsey Graham to leave the race. Failing to do so is now coloring their campaigns in a narcisistic hue and could soon undermine the respect that their previous politcal careers have earned them.
Others who should now step aside are Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, both veteran campaigners who have won the Iowa caucuses in the past. Their stature in the race is marginally higher than that of the three candidates mentioned above, but their failure to make any impression this time around — their latest poll numbers in the Hawkeye State are zero and 2 percent, respectively — is the unmistakable writing on the wall.
There are several other candidates whose numbers are low, but who cannot yet be expected to remove themselves from the fray. Among these are Carly Fiorina, who has excelled in debates but who has been unable to keep her poll numbers out of asterisk territory. She is currently at just 3 percent nationally, and was tied for fifth place in Iowa with Jindal before he dropped out. She probably still has a contribution to make, and cannot be regarded as out of the picture entirely for second place on the eventual ticket. Another candidate who has made little or no headway is Sen. Rand Paul. He brought a distinctive but ineffective voice to the race, and events have not broken his way. He is running only in eighth place in his best state, New Hampshire. He would look good soon endorsing someone else and turning his attention to re-election in Kentucky.
John Kasich and Chris Christie are probably on the bubble, scrumming with Jeb Bush for fifth place in New Hampshire, and it would take a minor miracle for them to challenge the front runners now. Bush himself, despite all of the money backing his campaign, has strong reason to doubt his prospects. Could he bring out the party base on Election Day even if he does manage to outlast everyone else in the primary and squeak through to the nomination?
All of the candidates named above together account for about 20 percentage points of support that could decide who gets the nomination. If they stay in, it could let Donald Trump triumph over a fractured field, which is a result no serious conservative should want.
The time when more was merrier has come and gone. Iowa is fast approaching. If the honorable and gifted candidates who ran for the GOP nomination this year want the thanks of their party and the benefit of their nation, many of them now should be seriously considering whether to throw in the towel.
