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It is almost assured that he will have a say in health matters with a background as policy adviser to the Bush administration and Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services till recently.

But Jindal has to answer to his Louisiana constituents because, after all, he will have to return two years from now to ask them to re-elect him. On this count, his earlier race for Governor gave him an opportunity to flesh out his plans to his constituents on what he wanted for his state; now he has the obligation to bring home the bacon.

In so many ways, the “wonder-boy” of Punjabi heritage, born and brought up in Louisiana, presents the amalgam that goes to make this country, and symbolizes the opportunity every Indian American and perhaps every immigrant, aspires to. He broke racial barriers in a district that is majority white and conservative.

His grassroots campaign that got volunteers to walk miles and miles and knock on thousands of doors, was a textbook example of taking nothing for granted. And he is taking nothing for granted going to Washington.

By the end of his campaign, Jindal began giving to the Republican National Committee ($25,000) and to the Louisiana Republican Party ($12,500). And according to the Times Picayune, he also gave some $125,000 to 45 Republican candidates around the country, building his support base in the Capitol. “We’re doing this so when the time comes, we can go to those same colleagues and explain what issues are important for Louisiana,” Jindal told Picayune.

He still has a lot more to give away not just in terms of money, but the width and depth of his experience.