Jindal's Flop

Last night's Republican response to President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress was just pathetic. It was given by the current Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal; a guy who has always been classed as one of the hot, up-and-comers in the Republican party. The sound was terrible. The setting was cold. Governor Jindal stood in front of camera with a slight slump and his head cocked sideways as if he was Mother Teresa looking for a charitable donation. His speech was less than forceful. He almost whispered as if he was announcing a golf tournament. The Jerry Seinfeld episode about the "low talker" came to mind. Finally, his use of jokes and personal experiences fell completely flat; seeming amateurish, at best.

Overall, that speech gave America no reason to believe that the Republicans are holding the answers to get us out of this recession. It would have been better if it had never occurred. Certainly, a dynamic speaker, like Barack Obama, would have been a hard act to follow anyway; but, there surely were better performers available in the Republican party to counter this first outing in front of all of Congress by Obama. Michael Steele, the new RNC Chairman, would have been a great choice. So would have most of those who had run for the Presidency; like Mitt Romney, or even John McCain.

History has shown us that the first, nationally-televised public appearance of any politician is a "maker" or a "breaker" in their chances for top leadership in this country. Certainly, we now have a President who elevated his chances for that when he gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention. Sarah Palin hiked the price of her own stock when she spoke at this last Republican Convention for her first in a nationally televised appearance. George Bush once gave a Republican response to a Clinton Address; and, while not that remarkable, he didn't hurt himself, either.

I think Jindal hurt himself. Up until last night's speech, I thought highly of him. I had previously seen him being interviewed on a variety of topics and I liked his responses. However, last night proved that he doesn't have the guns to go out onto the national stage. Many in the Republican party thought that he should have been McCain's pick for V.P. Looking at last night's performance, I think McCain made the right choice in "not" picking Bobby Jindal.