Thursday, March 5, 2009
Last year, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius gave the Democratic response to President Bush’s State of the Union address. The year before that, the respondent was Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. Neither governor’s response was considered compelling. This year was the Republicans’ turn to deliver a response. They chose Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. He did not fare any better.
Jindal’s speech was criticized as stilted and dull. Many of his supporters rushed to his defense by saying he is more in his element when speaking live and not in front of a teleprompter. Several political analysts have raised the question about what effect his poor presentation following President Obama’s speech might have on his rumored aspirations for higher national recognition.
I’m just going to say outright that I don’t think a mediocre response to a presidential address is going to kill Jindal’s possible aspirations to greater national prominence. He’s in his early 30s, so he has a lot of time to make up for one bad night. And the kind of attention he’s garnered since being elected governor of Louisiana isn’t going to dissipate that easily.
What is concerning is the brief period of panic that arose when Jindal didn’t deliver some kind of masterful rebuke to President Obama’s Address to Congress. It brought to light a serious problem with all the momentum Jindal has gained since becoming governor. As Republicans watched Barack Obama quickly rise to prominence in the Democratic Party, they obviously saw that it would behoove them to have an equivalent, and Bobby Jindal appeared to be their answer. He is young, he is (usually) a good public speaker, and he may very well have the ability to galvanize the Republican Party the same way Obama did to the Democrats. He just may be able to sell his beliefs as exciting, as the wave of the future, even though they are essentially in line with the party, much in the way Obama did.
Jindal’s less-than-stellar performance put cracks in that theory. The GOP, desperate to repair the damage done to its image by the legacy of the Bush administration, has placed much of its hope in Bobby Jindal. A straw poll taken at a recent convention of the Conservative Political Action Committee, as reported by CNN, had Jindal coming in a close second to Mitt Romney as the choice for GOP presidential candidate in 2012. Jindal certainly has time to improve his reputation.
If he can’t, however, the GOP is in trouble. It has hedged its bets on a popularly-anointed golden child without knowing much about his actual leadership style, or whether he can translate his success in Louisiana to a national level. I understand the GOP’s optimism, after seeing somebody from the rival party pull off essentially the same thing, but Obama’s popularity before he was the Democratic candidate was far more organic than Jindal’s. He certainly had help gaining national attention (you aren’t a keynote speaker at your party’s national convention because you’re a nice guy), but it took time for him to be heralded as the face of the Democratic Pary. The Republicans seem to be forcing the mantle on Jindal too hastily, which will only hurt them in the long run.
— Cohen is a Topeka senior in political science.
Sen. Barack Obama picks Sen. Joe Biden ...
After months of speculation, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee announces his running ...
Does Sebelius really have the veep potential?
Cohen: Sebelius should stay on for now ...
A Cabinet post would be great, but the governor is needed more ...
Cohen: Democrats have plenty to laugh at, ...
From Hillary to Barack, the Dems are full of faults
Sebelius persuades students to support Obama
Kathleen Sebelius spoke at the University on Monday about the upcoming Democratic ...
Students contemplate Sebelius’ future
Obama aides say Kansas governor might be next Health and Human Services ...
Cohen: How Palin’s campaign made me appreciate ...
Poole: Republicans' VP pick shattered the mold
By choosing Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain proved that he is ...
Brinker: GOP works to detriment of country
While the Republican Party works to bring Obama down in the 2012 ...
Sen. Brownback addresses RNC delegates
He says Gov. Sebelius would lose Senate race for his seat, endorses ...
Cohen: It’s time to get ready for ...
Still more than a year out, the race for the White House ...
Letter: Democrats don't play transparent
Before you blame Republicans for America's problems, look at what Democrats have ...
Sebelius may oversee Medicare, Medicaid
Mark Parkinson will be Kansas’ governor if Sebelius accepts position as secretary ...
Student delegate details Democratic Convention
Clarissa Unger has spent time across the country campaigning for Barack Obama.
Cohen: Debates didn’t show us anything new
Moore reiterates Obama support at DNC
The representative for Kansas’ 3rd congressional district also says Sebelius has Cabinet ...
Brinker: Politicans fail to heed past mistakes
For both parties, the extensive history of political controversy has done little ...
Poole: How Republicans can make the transition
Brinker: GOP moderates versus bleeding-heart liberals
There exists a fine line between the two ideologies.
Governor’s departure poses problems
Sebelius’ acceptance of HHS secretary leaves Kansas’ future and Obama’s health care ...
Sen. John McCain chooses Gov. Sarah Palin ...
McCain announced his choice of Palin on Friday morning.
Compton: Republicans gain momentum with recent wins
It's not over yet.
Sebelius VP bid ends
Home state, lack of foreign policy experience keep Kansas governor from winning ...
Red and blue don't always mix
While U.S. politics are heating up headlines, politically mixed relationships are feeling ...
Holmes: Current Kansas GOP strength: a precursor ...
Holmes discusses the Kansas republican party's potential comeback.
Republican candidates win big in Kansas races
Governor-elect Sam Brownback joins a GOP-run Kansas Legislature, seeks to implement his ...
Cohen: Sarah Palin who?
What was Sen. John McCain thinking when he chose the Alaskan governor?
Former GOP candidate to speak at Dole ...
Gov. Tim Pawlenty will give insight on the presidential primary Tuesday night.
Kansan bloggers' take on the prolonged primaries
Joshua Anderson, Andy Greenhaw and Kelsey Hayes discuss the ramifications of the ...
Cohen: Gear up for caucuses
Politi-geek urges students to partake in elections
Minster: Party does not recognize Republican principles
Republicans used to think government should allow citizens to be responsible for ...
Professor to give lecture on campaign ads
The lecture will cover Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s campaign advertisements and ...
Dole speaks at RNC event
The former senator and presidential candidate backs McCain, slams Obama
Columnists: Goodbyes to the governor
Kansan columnists share their views of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Cohen: Kansas Republicans can learn from Obama: ...
Offhand remarks by conservatives leave room for questions.
Cohen: Dems’ indecision may cost them
The DNC needs to sort out the nomination, or it may regret ...
Forson: Bold predictions
Forson blames the GOP win of two governorships on incompetent Democrats.
Cohen: Possibilities for Bush’s post-presidential future
Compton: The shrinking presidency
President Obama fails in keeping political promises.
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
Bobby Jindal wrote an article for the New Oxford Review, in which he claimed to cast out demons. I am not making this up:
http://www.kulo.org/NewOxfordReview.BobbyJindalsDemon/NewOxfordReview.BobbyJindalsDemon.html
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
It took time for Obama to gain in popularity? He was elected president as a freshman senator. That's about half the real experience Jindal has?
Jindal was supposed to make his appearance the exact same way Obama did, at the National Convention. Instead, he was busy running Louisiana during an emergency, Hurricane Gustav. In addition to having been a congressman like Obama, he is currently actually reforming the politics of Louisiana, Illinois’ counterpart to cronyism.
Jindal has real leadership experience that he has proven changes things. He doesn’t just look and sound like something different. He took Louisiana from the 49th worst state in terms of ethics laws to 1st. He stopped Louisiana congressmen from giving themselves a three fold raise, at a great risk to his political future. He refused to rely on Federal help during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, he and his administration put together the most comprehensive hurricane preparation in history.
As for how the GOP is handling his popularity, they sure aren’t granting him saint hood the way Democrats did with Obama. From day one, Obama was their man, with no vetting. Jindal is not only expected to continue to produce results in Louisiana, but he is also expected to improve his public speaking and speech writing. I’d much rather have a tested leader than someone chosen because he looks and sounds different. I’d like to know that our president has withstood not only the test of running a budget and government but also has stood the test of peer scrutiny.
You know what Jindal did the week after he was panned for his poor speech, he initiated reforming drunk driving laws to make them stronger across the board. He went back to leading.
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
I wasn't terribly concerned about Jindal's speech to be honest (for the reasons you enumerated above.) I must hand it to you though, Ben. This isn't nearly as bad as the bologna your party (and the White House, kind of Rovian if you ask me,) is spewing about Rush Limbaugh.
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
The Republican Party have nothing. Anyone who finds Rush Limbaugh to be entertaining must have thought that Jackass should have been nominated for an Oscar. Add in Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin, and what have you got? Bumpkis!
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
Brilliant commentary, Irish. I'm sure you know a lot about the Rush Limbaugh show and I'm sure the 25 million people who listen to it are all bumpkins. The intellectual elite at CPAC must have selected him to give their keynote address because they are trying to appeal to the bumpkin class and not be taken seriously by the national media.
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
Apparently someone does not know Yiddish.
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
Eh, same difference.
Cohen: Republicans hastily casting hopes on Louisiana governor
I assumed she/he said bumpkin rather than bumpkis. Does it refute my sarcastic statement? No.
Fallacious reasoning at its best.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID