As Rob wrote about yesterday, part of the Republican strategy going into November's election should include a sharp focus on Obama's failing energy policy and the gas crisis that is emerging as a result.

And at an Republican Governors' Association press conference yesterday, LA Gov. Bobby Jindal demonstrated that he really gets it.  Have a look.  Gov. Jindal sounds awfully presidential here, no?

Gov. Bobby Jindal on Energy from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

 

I completely agree with Jim Geraghty who writes at The Campaign Spot that Jindal's excellent explanation "ought to be emulated by every aspiring Republican president – and every other GOP candidate at any level, for that matter."

Comments:



Joined
Feb '12
maureen dirienzo

I'd also like to know the extent to which oil prices are driven up by inflation associated with the government's voracious borrowing and spending. 

Idahoklahoman
Joined
Feb '12
Idahoklahoman

This video confirms my belief that Bobby Jindal needed to be in this race. 2016 will be too late, Gov. Jindal.

Severely Ltd.
Joined
Oct '10
Severely Ltd.

Second only to Paul Ryan as a dream candidate.

katievs
Joined
May '10
katievs

If we really do end the primary season with a stalemate, he's an alternative I could definitely get behind.    Almost the only one.

Edited on February 28, 2012 at 8:20pm
Austin Murrey
Joined
Nov '11
Austin Murrey

Jindal's my current favorite for a future Republican president.  Like Mitch Daniels, leading the should-be-in-the-race primary according to the commentariat, he can speak clearly and intelligently on matters that are important to the average voter.  Unlike Mitch Daniels he can talk engagingly as well.

My vote for 2016 (regardless of who wins in '12): Jindal/Rubio.  Campaign motto: Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

kesbar
Joined
Apr '11
kesbar

After hearing the reporter's framing of the question, I'm convinced that Jindal was casting pearls before swine. 

That said, his response was deft, firm and respectful.   He can be on my team.

ParisParamus
Joined
May '10
ParisParamus

He sounds more like a very good Governor than a Presidential candidate to me.  I'm glad he did not run.

Mel Foil
Joined
Jun '10
etoiledunord

Unlike Obama, the energy companies are not making their decisions only for November of 2012. They're making decisions for 2016, and 2017. That's hard to do when you don't know whether the White House will pro-capitalist or anti-capitalist in 2013.

ParisParamus
Joined
May '10
ParisParamus

It's sad that so few people can distinguish between good policy people (Jindal, Ryan, Daniels), and potentially Presidential people.  All three of the aforementioned are too low key to establish large general interest.  This is sad, but it's a given.

DocJay
Joined
Jul '11
DocJay

Jindal has experienced first hand what an incompetent, petty, and vindictive donkey posterior the president has been.  Only Arizona and Texas have been snubbed as bad by our administration.  Revenge is best served up cold.

Severely Ltd.
Joined
Oct '10
Severely Ltd.
ParisParamus: It's sad that so few people can distinguish between good policy people (Jindal, Ryan, Daniels), and potentially Presidential people.  All three of the aforementioned are too low key to establish large general interest.  This is sad, but it's a given. · 5 minutes ago

Jindal and Ryan strike me as electrifying next to Romney. In spite of the pun, I mean that sincerely. It's not a jab at you, PP.

Romney still seems to be impersonating a conservative candidate. He's not terrible at it, but I'm not fooling myself that the country will embrace him as an inspiring leader.

Leslie Watkins
Joined
Sep '10
Leslie Watkins

No kidding! Could you believe her question? Ending it with something like, "keep in mind that three years ago when gas prices were high President Bush ..." I wanted to say, oh, you mean back when you guys said there was something a president can do to affect prices at the pump?

kesbar: After hearing the reporter's framing of the question, I'm convinced that Jindal was casting pearls before swine. 

That said, his response was deft, firm and respectful.   He can be on my team. · 50 minutes ago

Gouverneur Morris
Joined
Feb '11
Jordan Rodriguez

I'm not that impressed. He speaks too quickly. This rapid analysis will go over many voters' heads. But perhaps it's the nature of the forum and the questioner. If Jindal were to decelerate, and avoid tripping over his own words, then the truth of his talking points would shine through.

Edited on February 28, 2012 at 8:54pm
ParisParamus
Joined
May '10
ParisParamus

Jindal and Ryan strike me as electrifying next to Romney. In spite of the pun, I mean that sincerely. It's not a jab at you, PP.

Sorry, but you give the average voter too much credit if you think either Jindal or Ryan will ever get to be President (except, perhaps via the VP-to-P path).  Ryan's retort to Obama at that absurd healthcare summit is/ws promising, but I still think Ryan is too low key/professorial to be viable (same for Daniels).  And I think Jindal's ethnic background is an obstacle to winning the Presidency. 

Hey, I'd vote for either of them in nano-second, but you need to better channel the average independent voter who decides elections--which, by the way, is why Donald Trump's endorsement of Romney actually counts for something.

PS:  I'm gratified that a number of commentators have noticed what I observed in 2008:  Romney (still) speaks too fast.  That's one of the reasons I would like him locked in a conference room or hotel suite with Mr. Prager, Ms. Coulter, and, maybe, Ms. Breitbart for about 48 hours.

Edited on February 28, 2012 at 9:16pm

Joined
Jan '12
Big Green

PP - Curious to understand why you think Jindal's ethnicity would be an obstacle to winning the presidency.  Which Republican constituency / voting block would not support Jindal because of his ethnicity?

ParisParamus
Joined
May '10
ParisParamus

Which Republican constituency / voting block would not support Jindal because of his ethnicity?

NONE.  I'm talking about a general election.  And you should be too.


Joined
Jan '12
Big Green

Which "independents" then?

ParisParamus
Joined
May '10
ParisParamus

Which independents?  Any who are sufficiently primitive to care about how "foreign" or different someone looks.  Then there's the potential for the MSM launch the meme that the Republicans running anyone but a "plain white guy" is somehow a fraud, since "everyone knows that the only real Republicans are while non-ethnic people (would have been used big time if, in a parallel universe, Herman Cain was up for the VP slot.)

That said, I'm sensing that Gov. Susanna Martinez or Gov. Jan Breuer are in the running for Romney's VP pick--assuming, of course, Romney is not run over by a NASCAR, or a Cadillac (or two).

Edited on February 28, 2012 at 9:43pm
Diane Ellis

ParisParamus:Jindal and Ryan strike me as electrifying next to Romney. In spite of the pun, I mean that sincerely. It's not a jab at you, PP.

Sorry, but you give the average voter too much credit if you think either Jindal or Ryan will ever get to be President (except, perhaps via the VP-to-P path).  Ryan's retort to Obama at that absurd healthcare summit is/ws promising, but I still think Ryan is too low key/professorial to be viable (same for Daniels). 

Good point, PP. 

It's a strange thing to be a defender of a democratic/representative republic system like ours.  On the one hand, you have to defer to the wisdom and supremacy of the voters — which occasionally (although pretty rarely on a national level) leads to results we highbrow Ricochet sort approve of.  On the other hand, the voters seem to have pretty bad judgment a whole lot of the time. 

There's of course no better system, but it does mean that pigs fly before someone like Paul Ryan gets elected.  Who knows, though?  Stranger things have happened.

Gouverneur Morris
Joined
Feb '11
Jordan Rodriguez

ParisParamus:

That said, I'm sensing that Gov. Susanna Martinez or Gov. Jan Breuer are in the running for Romney's VP pick--assuming, of course, Romney is not run over by a NASCAR, or a Cadillac (or two). · 2 minutes ago

Edited 0 minutes ago

In my estimation, neither Martinez and Brewer is a particularly prudent pick. The former is utterly untested and new to the national stage (sound familiar?); the latter is already "controversial," "polarizing" and "hostile to immigration." Brewer's public personal is thoroughly enmeshed in the H-1070 debacle. Without relitigating the merits of that bill, I think it's clear the media would gleefully distort both its letter and its spirit to the Democrats' advantage. I'm sure both executives are generally qualified to serve in a (Romney) administration, but can either speak about the peril of the public fisc with authority?

Edited on February 28, 2012 at 10:03pm

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