Several months ago, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was the hot ticket in the Republican Party. Unfortunately, he bombed when giving the GOP response to President Obama's address to Congress in February. Now, he is registering at the bottom of the pack among potential GOP presidential hopefuls. At the recent Values Voters Summit hosted by the Family Research Council in Washington D.C., Jindal finished seventh with only 5% of the vote.
With such lackluster results, Jindal is revamping his strategy. In an interview with Politico, Jindal recommended that Republicans work with President Obama to find compromise on the issue of health care reform. He advised that Republicans approach the President and say "we're willing to work with you in a bipartisan way."
The offer to compromise is quite a different approach from the one that Jindal has exhibited in recent Fox News interviews. He is also pursuing a different strategy from many Republicans who seem more interested in stopping any kind of health care bill.
In the same Politico interview, the Governor refused to endorse incumbent Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter for re-election. Even though Jindal headlined a Vitter fundraiser several months ago, he did not offer any kind of support for the Senator in the interview. This stance will not endear Jindal to conservatives in the Republican Party, who have rallied around Vitter in recent months. It is hard to imagine Jindal endorsing Vitter's opponent, Democrat Congressman Charlie Melancon, who supports the policies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama, so his stance is perplexing.
While Jindal has been tending to other business or traveling to fundraisers in other states, Vitter has been conducting 22 town hall meetings on the health care issue. While Jindal has been silent on the tea party movement, Vitter has been vocally supporting the local groups and leading the charge. Whether it is the issue of Obama cabinet members or the President's liberal agenda, Vitter has been in strong opposition. In contrast, Jindal has been taking a much lower profile position.
In the interview, Jindal noted that his focus is not on the presidency, but on running for re-election in 2011. However, Jindal should not assume that he will receive a free ride in the next election. Jindal's poll numbers are decent, but not particularly impressive. One problem is that he has been labeled a hypocrite on the issue of the stimulus bill. After criticizing the legislation, the Governor not only accepted the federal money, he then traveled the state distributing stimulus checks to local communities.
If Jindal has weak poll numbers in 2011, he may face competition from either Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu or State Treasurer John Kennedy. In recent weeks, Kennedy has taken the lead on the important issue of streamlining government and has acted more like a Governor than Jindal. He is conducting media interviews each day and offering concrete ideas on how to save taxpayer money. One of Kennedy's proposals is to refurbish Charity Hospital instead of building an expensive new LSU teaching hospital. Again, Jindal has been largely absent from the political debate on the issue of streamlining state government or determining the future of health care in New Orleans. If Jindal had shown leadership, he could have resolved the hospital conflict months ago.
With Kennedy has been leading on the state level and Vitter has been leading on the national level, maybe Jindal figured it was time to return to the debate. Yet, his message of compromise will not help his poll numbers here in Louisiana or among Republican activists nationwide. A large majority of Republicans want to defeat the President's health care plan, not compromise with him.
Jeff Crouere is the Host of "Ringside Politics," which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. He is the Political Analyst for WGNO-TV ABC26 and a Columnist for selected publications. For more information, visit his web site at RingsidePolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
With such lackluster results, Jindal is revamping his strategy. In an interview with Politico, Jindal recommended that Republicans work with President Obama to find compromise on the issue of health care reform. He advised that Republicans approach the President and say "we're willing to work with you in a bipartisan way."
The offer to compromise is quite a different approach from the one that Jindal has exhibited in recent Fox News interviews. He is also pursuing a different strategy from many Republicans who seem more interested in stopping any kind of health care bill.
In the same Politico interview, the Governor refused to endorse incumbent Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter for re-election. Even though Jindal headlined a Vitter fundraiser several months ago, he did not offer any kind of support for the Senator in the interview. This stance will not endear Jindal to conservatives in the Republican Party, who have rallied around Vitter in recent months. It is hard to imagine Jindal endorsing Vitter's opponent, Democrat Congressman Charlie Melancon, who supports the policies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama, so his stance is perplexing.
While Jindal has been tending to other business or traveling to fundraisers in other states, Vitter has been conducting 22 town hall meetings on the health care issue. While Jindal has been silent on the tea party movement, Vitter has been vocally supporting the local groups and leading the charge. Whether it is the issue of Obama cabinet members or the President's liberal agenda, Vitter has been in strong opposition. In contrast, Jindal has been taking a much lower profile position.
In the interview, Jindal noted that his focus is not on the presidency, but on running for re-election in 2011. However, Jindal should not assume that he will receive a free ride in the next election. Jindal's poll numbers are decent, but not particularly impressive. One problem is that he has been labeled a hypocrite on the issue of the stimulus bill. After criticizing the legislation, the Governor not only accepted the federal money, he then traveled the state distributing stimulus checks to local communities.
If Jindal has weak poll numbers in 2011, he may face competition from either Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu or State Treasurer John Kennedy. In recent weeks, Kennedy has taken the lead on the important issue of streamlining government and has acted more like a Governor than Jindal. He is conducting media interviews each day and offering concrete ideas on how to save taxpayer money. One of Kennedy's proposals is to refurbish Charity Hospital instead of building an expensive new LSU teaching hospital. Again, Jindal has been largely absent from the political debate on the issue of streamlining state government or determining the future of health care in New Orleans. If Jindal had shown leadership, he could have resolved the hospital conflict months ago.
With Kennedy has been leading on the state level and Vitter has been leading on the national level, maybe Jindal figured it was time to return to the debate. Yet, his message of compromise will not help his poll numbers here in Louisiana or among Republican activists nationwide. A large majority of Republicans want to defeat the President's health care plan, not compromise with him.
Jeff Crouere is the Host of "Ringside Politics," which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. He is the Political Analyst for WGNO-TV ABC26 and a Columnist for selected publications. For more information, visit his web site at RingsidePolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
