Perodically, stories appear in the mainstream media speculating about the political aspirations of former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, as well as Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal. A Republican ticket of Dobbs for President and Jindal as his running mate would be a dream come true.

For Democrats.

Earlier this month, Dobbs said he has not abandoned his Oval Office ambitions. And Jindal continues to prance around the country raising money—allegedly to finance his campaign for a second term as Governor. However, Dobbs and Jindal  share the same problem. They live in fantasy worlds, a common destination for a lot of television personalities and politicians—no matter how smart they are. And these are two smart guys. Dobbs graduated from Harvard. Jindal is also Ivy League educated. He attended Brown and did his post-graduate studies as a Rhodes Scholar at England’s Oxford University.

Still, there is something about television and/or politics that supersedes intellect. I observed the phenomenon throughout my career as a non-celebrity TV reporter. Despite virtual anonymity during thirty years as a broadcast newsman, I was often guilty of the self-important posturing that afflicts a vast majority of television correspondent. Or for that matter, most journalists. There is a tendency to forget that we are only as important as the venue in which we practice the craft.  

Beyond peering into the mirror and assessing my own ego, I’ve seen the insidious narcissism that spreads like a pharmaceutical-resistant virus in the business from which I retired. It was always fascinating to have dinner with well-known newsmen and watch them divert their attention from the table to survey the room in hope that there is a flicker of recognition by fellow diners.

A veteran video editor once told me about strolling through Central Park with Mike Wallace following an outing by members of the 60 Minutes  staff. Instead of returning to CBS headquarters on 52nd street via a lightly traveled path, Wallace chose the most crowded route, thus, bringing him the attention that TV folks crave. 

In my ten year tenure as CNN’s Senior Investigative Correspondent, Lou Dobbs and I became casual acquaintances. He’s a nice guy, at least when I knew him. However, he was known for his temperment. After Dobbs was passed over for a top network executive position, he up and quit. Ted Turner convinced him to return a few months later. By then, he faced competition in his time slot of Bill O’Reilly—the most controversial Fox “News” personality at the time.

Lou apparently decided to “out outrage” O’Reilly by launching crusades on issues like illegal immigration. Lou’s outrage caused controversy, the equivalent of mother’s milk for spell-my-name-right television egotists. CNN, however, got many complaints as a result of Lou’s tendency to bend facts. The complaints escalated after Lou offered aid and comfort to birther lunatics. In a matter of months, he “resigned.”

The Lou Dobbs audience has since shrunk to a relatively small number of radio listerners willing to patiently search the dial for his talk show on tiny radio stations around the country. But Lou’s ego seemingly remains outsized if he has deluded himself into believing he is qualified to run for President.

Meantime, Bobby Jindal’s Presidential delusion continues to be fed by people who believe in the national potential of the Governor of a state ranked at the low end of nearly every quality of living scale. It reminds me of the smoke blown up the derriere of John McKeithen, another Louisiana chief executive with national ambitions.

In 1968, I covered the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. At a Sunday evening cocktail party in honor of the Louisiana delegation, speculation was rampant about McKeithen’s prospects of being the running mate of presumed nominee, Hubert Humphrey. Indeed, when I interviewed U.S. Senator Russell Long, he cut the the interview short, saying, ”Don’t talk to me. Interview the next Vice President of the United States.”

Long then led me by the arm to McKeithen. He would have been a remarkable choice to run as V.P. given that Louisiana was in the midst of turmoil over school desegregation, labor racketeering and allegations of mafia influence on government. And like Jindal, he was Governor of a state that showed little inclination to solve the problems. 

It was later revealed that Senator Long’s purpose in promoting McKeithen was to keep the Louisiana delegation unified in the wake of contentious debate over the Demoratic’s party’s positions on several issues, the foremost being civil rights. McKeithen was passed over as a prospective running mate without so much as a nod. And even before the convention ended, he left for home. Arriving at the airport in New Orleans, he gave a law and order speech, then retreated to sulk for a few days.

I doubt that Jindal’s ambitions will be squelched so traumatically—that is assuming he holds on to a return ticket to reality.

My memoir, Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger, is available at amazon.com and independent bookstores. It offers much more than $19.99 worth of laughs. It is an account of my illustrious (I choose the adjectives) career.