Bobby Jindal hits campaign trail for touring Romney

With Mitt Romney on his three-nation tour, Indian-American Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, one of his top possible running mates for November polls, is leading the Republican campaign against United States President Barack Obama in battleground states, where he slammed the incumbent's economic policies.

Fourty-one-year-old Jindal addressed two campaign events on Thursday in the crucial State of Iowa -- one alone and another along with Governor Bob McDonnell from Virginia -- and fielded questions from journalists through a conference call.

Impressed by the impact of his meetings, Romney campaign announced last evening that Jindal would address another election meeting in Florida on Saturday.

Political pundits expect a close contest in Florida during the November presidential elections.

"The response in Iowa on the ground has been enthusiastic and strong. People in Iowa are ready to make history again. Four years ago they gave President Obama a chance, he's not lived up to his promises," Jindal told reporters from Iowa.

"Now the President got in trouble, several days ago. He said, 'If you've got a business you didn't build that'. His aides said, well no, that's not what he really meant.

A few weeks ago, he said the private sector was doing fine, it was the public sector that needed help, then his aides had to come out and say, no he didn't really mean that," Jindal said. "It's not just these phrases, these speeches. The reality is, I think they reveal a lot about this President's thinking and his policies. The reality is he has grown government spending to 24 to 25 per cent of GDP. That's simply not sustainable," he said.

Jindal said, "President Obama has nothing new to offer -- simply wants to try to tax, spend, borrow away into prosperity. (Former Massachusetts) Governor Romney instead is offering a different path to restore the American dream, to grow the private sector economy so our kids will have even more opportunities than those we inherited from our parents."

"I think the contrast is clear. The response here in Iowa on the ground has been enthusiastic and strong. People in Iowa are ready to make history again. Four years ago they gave President Obama a chance, he's not lived up to his promises," said the Louisiana governor.

Jindal, the US media reported, is among the top vice-presidential running mates of Romney.     

While the Romney campaign was maintaining a pin drop silence on it, several media outlets said the announcement could come as early as next week.

"I can tell you I'm not going to announce it this week. While I'm overseas, I'm not gonna announce my vice presidential running mate. But when the decision is made, I'll make that announcement. It's not made yet. But I can't tell you when it's gonna be. That's something which we'll decide down the road," Romney told the ABC news from London, which he is visiting currently to attend the Summer Olympics.

Jindal, during his election meeting in Iowa, said Romney was the best fit to run the country. "When he was Governor of Massachusetts, unemployment below the national average, per capita income grew faster than the national average. One of the top 10 turnaround states according to the objective data at the federal level. What Mitt Romney stands for is this. In America, you are not promised equal outcomes," he said.

"You are not entitled to your neighbour's property. You don't have a right to your neighbour's car, house, boat. What you are promised in America is equal opportunity. Not equal outcomes, but equal opportunity," he added.