Bobby Jindal slams rivals for saying ''outlandish things''

Washington, July 30

Louisiana's Indian American Governor Bobby Jindal has accused fellow Republican presidential candidates of saying "extreme things, outlandish things" to garner publicity ahead of primary elections.

"Right now you've got a lot of candidates, they're willing to say extreme things, outlandish things to get on TV, to get in the debates," said Jindal who currently figures at the bottom of national polls with one to two per cent.

"We're not doing that. Instead we're offering specific ideas," he told CBS News.

Outlining his strategy for focusing on early-voting states like Iowa, Jindal said his campaign was "on the move" in Iowa, where he plans to visit every county.

"There are a lot of candidates running that don't have the bandwidth, don't have the backbone, don't have the experience to get the job done," Jindal said. "I do." Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who currently is running second to real estate mogul Donald Trump in the polls, came in for particular criticism for his immigration policies.

"Jeb just came out this week, just yesterday and said he is for amnesty for the millions of folks who are here in our country illegally," Jindal said. "I think that is a mistake." When asked about former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's comments last week that President Barack Obama is marching Israelis "to the door of the oven" with the Iran nuclear deal, Jindal called the remarks "outlandish".

"I don't make it a practice to compare anything to the Holocaust. I think that was a horrific evil," Jindal said.

But he also warned against losing sight of the larger concerns: "I think the bigger issue is we must not sign a bad deal that could start a nuclear arms race." Fox News, which is hosting the first Republican presidential debate on August 6 in Cleveland, Ohio has said "the top 10 of an average of the five most recent national polls" as of August 4 at 5 p.m. will take the stage in the main event at prime time.

The remaining six would be relegated to a secondary forum at 5 pm the same day.

Meanwhile, a new poll released on Wednesday saw Trump leading the Republican field with 31 percent of the vote, followed by Bush at 15 percent and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in third place at 13 percent.

Jindal was at the bottom of the Emerson College Poll with 0.1 per cent.

On the Democratic side, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton holds a significant lead with 54 per cent of the vote with Senator Bernie Sanders in second at 33 percent and Vice-President Joe Biden, who is yet to announce his candidacy at 9 per cent. —IANS