• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 12, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Just three years ago, Barack Obama was “absolutely positive” he would not be in the 2008 presidential election.

“I’m sincere when I say it’s not on my radar screen,” Obama told Oprah Winfrey in 2005.

Six months later, Obama refused to even play ball with the Chicago Tribune on what might change his mind about seeking the presidency.

“I’m not going to speculate on that,” he told the daily newspaper. “You know, like what? It’s speculation. Go ahead, next question.”

Obama firmly said that he and his wife, Michelle, wanted to raise their children in Chicago to spare them from the “pretense” in Washington.

People accepted Obama’s denials with a nod and a wink — the same response that Gov. Bobby Jindal gets when he insists that he has no interest in calling 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home.

Jindal shot into the spotlight earlier this year when he was touted as a possible running mate for U.S. Sen. John McCain. National TV shows began calling. McCain invited Jindal to spend Memorial Day weekend with him at his Arizona ranch. The GOP asked Jindal to speak at the Republican National Convention.

Ultimately, McCain chose another young, conservative governor — Sarah Palin of Alaska. But McCain’s Election Day loss is partly being attributed to Palin. Her designer wardrobe, disastrous interviews and a “Saturday Night Live” doppelganger eclipsed the hockey mom image she hoped voters would embrace. McCain’s aides now are painting her as a dumb diva who did not know that Africa is a continent.

Jindal, on the other hand, is rebounding as the darling of the national Republican Party. The networks are calling. Candidates from other states are calling. Even Iowa is calling.

Later this month, Jindal is scheduled to fly to the Midwest to speak to the Iowa Family Policy Center in West Des Moines. The center is the same conservative organization that is credited with helping former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee win the Iowa caucus.

Jindal’s perceived presidential ambitions are drawing criticism from the left and the right.

Conservative radio talk show host Moon Griffon, of Monroe, said he got a surprising response when he talked about Jindal while broadcasting his statewide show from a Shreveport music store.

“I made the comment in front of a bunch of people and said all I want Gov. Jindal to do is to be governor and get the job done here. If he wants to run for president, quit and go run for president and let’s get a governor that cares about this state. Standing ovation. I was shocked,” he said.