He’s tanned, maybe not so rested, but certainly ready.

…and ambitious as hell, as we all know. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Lowe-Down was watching CNN at midday as the media and the political types prepared for a press conference at one of the fouled coastal areas of the Gulf.

President Obama was due in momentarily for one of his now-regular local appearances to demonstrate to the American people how much he truly, deeply cares, and for some reason a wide-angle shot of all the disorganized pre-speech milling around was being broadcast, C-SPAN-style, during the lull in the festivities.

According to my real-time witness, there was a lot of jockeying for position among the various hangers-on who always appear at these politically charged gatherings, and as Obama strode to the lectern, some jostling occurred between Governors Charlie Crist of Florida and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

Jindal, a slight fellow, took an expertly-aimed elbow jab in the ribs from Crist, who ended up in prized pole position right next to the President just as the cameras tightened for the close-up. Charlie immediately hung a concerned, squinty expression on his tanned visage, nodding sagely like a bobble-head doll for several minutes as Obama spoke.

At the time, Louisiana was the only state to be affected by the slick, but Gov. Jindal was nowhere to be seen in the footage.

Then again, he wasn’t running for the U.S. Senate this November. Eat slime, Shorty.