I really don’t blame him. He really does seem to enjoy his job in Louisiana, plus he’s better-off getting experience for the next four years and then running by himself in 2012. Besides, this way he doesn’t have the direct connection to McCain/Bush if he does end up running at some point.

Jindal was approached by McCain forces to gauge his interest in the vice presidency and told them he was not interested in being vetted due to his desire to continue on with his current job, to which he was elected just one year ago.

While the official reason that Jindal took his name out of contention was his lack of a desire to leave the Louisiana governorship, there was also real trepidation within his political inner circle that Jindal might wind up as the pick — McCain was attracted to his comprehensive health-care knowledge — and be caught up in what they believed to be a less-than-stellar campaign that could pin a loss on Jindal without much ability to change or control the direction of the contest…

The end result — intentional or not — is that Jindal, should he run in 2012, will be free of any taint of President George W. Bush or McCain.

So, here’s our 2012 field of likely candidates thus far: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Mark Sanford, and Bobby Jindal. Fred Thompson will be considered too old and is better off in an RNC post, Newt Gingrich is eyeing the RNC chair, and Mitt Romney supposedly isn’t interested in running again.