Last night I caught Bobby Jindal speaking at a fundraising dinner
for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Overall,
Jindal came off better in front of a live audience and less
rehearsed than he did on national TV during his response to
President Obama's speech to Congress. But the bottom line is that
he simply is not an electrifying speaker. While the crowd reacted
positively, their applause was much more tepid than I would have
expected given that he's still considered one of the rising stars
in the party. Public speaking, as far as I can tell, is not one
of his political strengths. With time and practice, Jindal could
evolve into a good enough speaker to succeed in higher office,
especially if in some date in the future Americans become
disillusioned with the idea of electing presidents based on their
rhetorical prowess. But it’s pretty clear to me that if Jindal
ever makes it to the White House, it will be because he's
brilliant, has a mastery of policy issues, and an impressive list
of accomplishments – not because of his power as an orator.
With that said, I thought the substance of what Jindal had to say
was generally on target.
"I honor and respect the Democratic Party's sincerity," Jindal
said in an almost Obama-like conciliatory way. "The differences
between the two parties are genuine, legitimate differences. This
isn’t because of political opportunism, these are essential
differences based on opposing world views."
Jindal noted that we were in the midst of the greatest expansion
of government in history, with money spent in the early part of
the Obama administration having eclipsed the cost of the Iraq
War, the Vietnam War and the Louisiana Purchase.
Much of his speech was focused on how Republicans had a different
vision on health care, energy and education than Obama and
Democrats in Congress. But he really hit his stride toward the
end, in which he tackled the question of whether he wanted Obama
to fail. He started by challenging the question's premise.
"If you don't want to answer that question with a loud 'no'
immediately, if you don't express instant obedience to the
question, then they are trying to suggest that you're not really
a patriot," Jindal said. "They're essentially saying that you're
trying to undermine America."
But Jindal said that the GOP shouldn't back down on challenging
President Obama when they disagree with his agenda.
"There's a very important role in our republic for the loyal
opposition," Jindal said. "We must be both."
He continued, "We are the party out of power. It is proper and
right and healthy for our democracy for us to speak up when we
don’t agree with the policies that this president pushes and
proposes. I will not be browbeaten… I won't kowtow to the
political correctness. We will be the loyal opposition."
In response to the question of whether he wants the president to
fail, he said his answer is simple: "It depends on what he is
trying to do." Jindal said that he wants Obama to succeed if the
president wants to cut taxes, reduce debt, stop the explosion in
government spending, and get serious about earmark reform.
"However," Jindal said, "when our president wants to spend our
country into debt, into interminable debt, putting this
generation and future generations in a position in which the only
way out will be massive tax increases, we oppose that policy not
because we want the president to fail, but because we want
America to succeed."
His speech lasted a little over 20 minutes and the NRCC raised $6
million from the event to support GOP candidates.
