The response to the president is usually given to a rising star in the party. This year was Jindal's turn.
It's clear that Jindal is not ready for prime time national politics. It's not that he's not a capable politician, he's certainly doing a fine job as governor of Louisiana. Navigating that bayou cesspool of corruption is just as difficult as navigating the "stinky onion" cesspool in Illinois. So far Jindal has done a good job at the helm of his state.
He's done such a good job that he's often named as a possible presidential candidate for the Republican Part in 2012. He was on Sen. John McCain's short list for vice president in 2008. But if his response to the president is any indication, Jindal is not ready for the national stage.
His argument was stale. It's the same mantra Republican candidates have been using for years, but it's a mantra that is ringing hollow with the average citizen. Likewise the way he delivered the response was all wrong as well. Jindal spoke at the American people instead of speaking to the American people.
Conservative columnist Amanda Carpenter described Jindal's response:
There was a cheesy, salesman-like quality to the response that I don't think connected with the Rick Santelli-inspired anger so many Republicans are feeling right now. And, I'm pretty sure he's going to be SNL's next target. His speech tempo was just, so weird. Enough complaining from me. He didn't pass the prime time test and it makes me sad. I don't want to dwell.
Also the stagecraft of Jindal's response was poor. He should not have approached the camera from a hidden area like he was hiding, nor should the piece have been shot in front of the grand staircase of the governor's mansion in Baton Rouge. If the GOP wants to appeal to average folks, a mansion isn't the spot to make such an address.
Posts
2 comments:
This is where Bobby Jindal got his talking point from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0cpjhTRO28
As long as republicans try to come up with different ways for the government to solve our problems, the democrats will keep winning. Maybe the message of personal responsibility is a losing one right now (I don't believe it is), but it's the right message for right now. If the government retracted all of the silly medicare rules and repealed all of the mandates put on insurance companies and businesses, it would take a few years tops to see the health care system become available to all. But politicians can't stomach the idea of getting out of the way.
Which means we're all screwed.
-Matt
Post a Comment