But the Jindal campaign is taking no chances. Rather, it is girding up to take on a new challenge. Timmy Teepel, Jindal's campaign manager, said, "We are not taking anything for granted." Jindal has been going around the district every day "raising money, knocking on doors and talking to voters. We are in a good position poll-wise, but ... we are going to work hard till the last vote is cast on election day.

"You always have to look at all the potential ways that your opponents are going to try to win."

He has a point. The Democrats have thrown four candidates into the fray, evidently to deprive Jindal of the 50 per cent vote he needs to avoid a run-off in December.

"You have got four Democrats from different areas and each of them working their own geographic areas," Teepel said. "They need to get only 10 per cent each and it could take away from the 50 per cent Bobby needs. So we really got to work hard to make sure we get Bobby over 50 per cent in the first election."

In the event that Jindal does not get 50 per cent or more of the votes cast, he will have to do the hard yards all over again, in a run-off in December.

In an urgent missive to this supporters on September 23, requesting that they contribute more funds, Jindal recalled, "I lost my race for governor one year ago at the very last possible moment. You may recall I was blindsided by some of the most outrageous political attack ads ever run in Louisiana."

He informed his supporters that he has been "hit with another campaign shocker", and that "once again, I could have never seen this coming.

"At the very last possible moment, the liberal Democratic machine convinced not one but four candidates to file against me in my race for US Congress."

This, Jindal pointed out, could hardly be coincidental. "This last-ditch effort of throwing four new opponents into my race to stop me from winning elective office is a hurdle I never saw coming," Jindal told supporters in the letter, adding that without the help of his contributors he may not be able to overcome this hurdle.

'You see, the liberals may think that if they can force me into a runoff, they can successfully regroup and focus money from all over the state in defeating me in December.

"This is a scenario that I do not want to see happen. I simply don't want to see myself backed into a corner yet again by the liberals.

"Top Republican leaders in the House are watching my race closely and are determined to see me emerge victorious this time around," Jindal said. Late last month, Teepel said, House majority leader Tom de Lay, Texas Republican, had come out to Louisiana and done a fund-raising event for Jindal. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican, "was also coming to do an event for Bobby, but it got cancelled because of Hurricane Ivan."