As for whether they are supporting him because he’s Indian or because they agree with him on the issues - that’s a far more complex debate.  I suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle.  Some Indians, I am sure, support him perhaps solely because he is Indian.  Some, I am sure, support his policy positions.  Some, I am sure, support his policy positions but support him even more passionately than they would a white or black candidate with the same ideology.  Such is human nature.

As to your last point, I think it’s a fascinating issue.  Dinesh D’Souza once commented that even if you’re an immigrant once you become established in this country you tend Republican.   The theory is, once you stop feeling like an “outsider” you don’t feel the need to “throw rocks” from the “outside” or periphery at America (its values, economic system, system of government, etc) and you become an “insider,” so to speak.  I would argue that as much as any Indian may FEEL like an insider, he/she never will truly BE an insider in the eyes of most Americans (especially white America).  So while you may believe you’re “one of them” the truth is probably not that simple. 

Like in the case of your friend, she may believe strongly in her conservatism and may no longer identify herself as an immigrant.  However, are we so naive to believe that when most people see her (white, black, hispanic, whatever) they do not on some level see an “immigrant” identity?  She may not even be an immigrant.  But society’s (specifically White America’s) perception of her will test that self-identification.  For example, Tiger Woods can talk all he wants about being Cablinasian, but the reality is he is what we see him as, not what he WANTS to be.  That’s the burden we carry as Indian-Americans.  But then again, I think Jindal has shown us all that maybe our assimilation is more complete and accepted by White America than my own cynicism will allow me to believe.

PS - Geaux Tigers!