KENNER, LOUISIANA (TIP): Louisiana ‘American’ Governor Bobby Jindal became the 13th Republican to announce that he is running for president in 2016.

Jindal, 44, an Indian-American (who hates to be called an Indian American and prefers to be called only an American), joins the crowded field of Republican contenders in what even his supporters call a long-shot candidacy.

Standing before a giant American flag at an event center in this New Orleans suburb, June 24, Jindal presented himself as a policy writer whose resume – as a two-term governor and a former congressman who once led the state health agency and the University of Louisiana system – sets him apart. Jindal said that Louisiana cut the number of “government bureaucrats” by more than 30,000 positions, and that the state now had the highest population in its history, with more people moving to Louisiana than leaving it. He invoked the success story of his immigrant parents but once again distanced himself from his Indian roots by asserting that “we are all Americans” and not hyphenated Americans.

In his speech, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal said, “I’m sick and tired of people dividing Americans. And I’m done with all this talk about hyphenated Americans. We are not Indian-Americans, Irish – Americans, African-Americans, rich Americans, or poor Americans – we are all Americans.” He further accused Obama of racism; and said Obama has “been trying to divide us…by gender, by race, by geography, and by religion.”

Mr. Jindal was born in America to parents who emigrated from India. As a teen he converted from Hinduism to Christianity.