Bobby Jindal Response Panned By Pundits, Republicans And Democrats Alike

[BigBearJohn]

Gov. Bobby Jindal's task tonight, to rebut President Obama's first address to a joint session of Congress, was a thankless one. But it still constituted an opportunity for the Louisiana Republican to show that he could handle the national spotlight, present himself as a fresh face of the Republican Party, and stand up to the current president oratorically.

On each of these three hurdles, he came up short. Both Democrats and Republicans alike panned Jindal's rebuttal in terms that were decidedly harsh: "amateurish," "laughable" and, most commonly, "a missed opportunity."

"After watching Jindal," one Democratic strategist emailed, "I'd pay a lot of money to be back watching a Palin speech."

"Awkward with capital A," emailed another.

The punditry was equally brutal. Part of the problem was the crux of Jindal's address, which consisted almost entirely of red meat for conservatives. The Governor offered criticism for anything other than tax cuts and ridiculed government spending for items that are either widely supported -- "$8 billion for high-speed rail" -- or seemingly essential -- "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring'" (isn't Louisiana Exhibit A in the need for natural disaster warning?).

"You know, I think Bobby Jindal is a very promising politician," said New York Times columnist David Brooks, appearing on PBS, "and I oppose the stimulus because I thought it was poorly drafted. But to come up at this moment in history with a stale "government is the problem," "we can't trust the federal government" -- it's just a disaster for the Republican Party. The country is in a panic right now. They may not like the way the Democrats have passed the stimulus bill, but that idea ... that government is going to have no role, the federal government has no role in this ... it's just a form of nihilism. It's just not where the country is. There's an intra-Republican debate."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/25/bobby-jindal-response-pan_n_169710.html

[MrModerate]

1. Zero credibility. Zero gravitas. Factually deficient. Anticharismatic.

And this is the only alternative to Limbaugh they can come up with?

I'm thinking that the new party they form when the 'Licans atomize in 2010 or 22012 should be called something like "The Centrist Party." It wouldn't be true, of course, but it would be lots easier to market.

[opihimoimoi]

2. Slumdog Republican will not go anywhere after last night...he has crested

[qanda]

3. I almost started to feel sorry for Jindal

Until I actually listened to what he was saying-- he's a dangerous man. Hopefully, after last night, no one will ever take him seriously again.

[paulsby]

4. just take a trip

to the rightwing organs.

the reaction to obama's speech is mixed, but pretty positive considering it was given by a democrat in relation to a plan (the stimulus) that they are nearly universally against.

the reaction to jindal's in nearly uniformly negative.

iow, when your home audience thinks you sucked, too. you SUCKED.

he sucked.

[Nick at Noon]

5. Who cares what Bobby Jangles thinks ? n/t