22 hours ago
Jindal urges GOP to stop being ‘stupid’
Posted by
CNN’s Gregory Wallace
(CNN) – “We must stop being the stupid party.” “We must stop looking backward.” “We must stop insulting the intelligence of voters.”
Gov. Bobby Jindal held little back with his sharp words to Republicans Thursday evening, urging his own party to rethink their arguments against Democrats and appeals to voters in his remarks to party members attending the Republican National Committee’s Winter Meeting.
“We seem to have an obsession with government bookkeeping,” he told party members. “We as Republicans have to accept that government number crunching – even conservative number crunching – is not the answer to our nation’s problems.”
Instead of being the “party of austerity,” Jindal said, Republicans must “boldly show what the future can look like with the free-market policies that we believe in.”
“We must compete for every single vote: the 47 percent and the 53 percent and any other combination of numbers that adds up to 100 percent,” he said, notably invoking comments 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney made at a closed-door fundraiser about a bloc of voters who would not consider GOP candidates.
He also spoke out against those and other “completely unhelpful” comments from Romney in a November interview with CNN. In that interview, he signaled one of the seven points for the Republican Party’s future which he laid out Thursday: “The first step in getting the voters to like you is to demonstrate that you like them,” he explained Thursday.
Republicans “must reject the notion that demography is destiny, the pathetic and simplistic notion that skin pigmentation dictates voter behavior. We must treat all people as individuals rather than as members of special interest groups,” he said.
The Louisianan’s remarks further positioned himself as a forward-looking voice among the Republicans thought to have their eye on a White House bid in 2016. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus has directed a five-member panel known as the “Growth and Opportunity Project” to identify winning political strategies for the future, particularly in the area of minority outreach.
Jindal’s remarks were laced with criticism of and laugh lines at the expense of Democrats, such as “Which of you wants to sign up to help manage the slow decline of the United States of America? I sure don’t. That’s what we have Democrats for.”
He blasted the economic stimulus programs of President Barack Obama’s administration, invoking Solyndra when he said: “You can’t hire enough government workers or give enough taxpayer money to your friends who own green energy companies to create prosperity.”
But he was also distinctly blunt with his appraisal of the GOP.
Republicans have not only lost elections, he said, but lost issue arguments with Democrats.
“At present we have one party that wants to be in charge of the federal government so they can expand it, and one party that wants to be in charge of the federal government so they can get it under control,” he said, referring first to Democrats and then Republicans. “It’s a terrible debate, it’s a debate fought entirely on our opponents’ terms.”
Jindal allowed that his thoughts “may challenge your assumptions.”
“We must shift the eye line and the ambition of our conservative movement away from managing government and toward the mission of growth,” he said.
Republicans must move, he said, beyond a notion of “if we can just put together a spreadsheet and a power point and a TV ad, all will be well.”
Jindal was elected last year to lead the Republican Governor’s Association.
Priebus will be up for re-election as RNC chairman on Friday.
“I don’t think you should use that whole ORCA thing for your election tomorrow,” Jindal joked, referring to the Romney campaign voter turnout technology which was reportedly plagued with glitches on Election Day.
– CNN Political Director Mark Preston contributed to this report
Jindal has it right for sure, but the question will be how long will he last. The GOP is very good at putting down anyone who doesn’t march to the Grand Ole Tune and Jindal appears to be swimming upstream. I find it fascinating when there is a questionable act “committed” by a Republican the Democrats and the media are all over the act doing everything just short of an execution, the fascinating part is that the mainstream Republicans will pile one. When the shoe is on the other foot i.e. a Democrat misbehaving, they are back 100% by fellow Democrats even if that person is completely guilty.
Basically the GOP need to get a backbone and stand for something, which I think is what Jindal is saying. In the recent fiscal cliff debate the GOP initially held their ground saying that we need to have spending cuts coupled with “revenue” increases in order to help balance the budget. As the argument went on their spines gradually turned to over cooked noodles and they yielded to a good deal if not everything the Democrats wanted. When we have the speaker of the house crying at a drop of a hat one wonders what kind of people are the GOP leaders… get a backbone. One would only hope that a person like Jindal will continue his campaign and we will see him or someone with backbone running int2016. We cannot continue to have a one party system.
I am totally with you on this. I am leery of Louisiana politicians, but Boehner is a wuss.
Agree! Boehner is a wuss but he is just being a politician. Neither side seems to reach across the aisle to be a true representative of the people. Personally, I have voted along one party line for the last time.
smart move. If I was a few years younger, I would try to start a new party.
Hey all, I came across this just now, thought I’d put in my two cents (I’ll bet you can’t wait. 🙂
I am heartened by what Jindal said as well, but I also think he leaves something vital out, and that is that it’s not just that Republicans haven’t explained themselves well, or been likable, etc. The real problem is that some of the policies they’ve espoused over the last few years are just awful! A few examples: absolute refusal to ever raise taxes under any circumstances; forced ultra sound for women seeking an abortion (now THERE’s a great use of taxpayer dollars); profiling Latinos in Arizona because they “appear” to be illegal; attempts by Wisconsin governor Scott Walker to eliminate public employees’ rights to collectively bargain; attempts in one southern state (can’t remember which) to give full human status to an unborn fetus; and these are just ones I can think of off the top of my head.
These are policies full of hatred and fear and blame, and the people they blame can’t help but get it. Romney’s 47% comment was no mistake or badly-worded comment. He, and many in the GOP, DO think that a vast majority of Americans are just takers, lacking integrity and personal commitment to self betterment. And that they just want a government hand-out. In my opinion, this attitude comes to us courtesy of Rush Limbaugh and his ilk, who are really just looking for ways to “entertain” (read “shock” and “outrage.”) The truth is not important to this guy, who has been the real head of the GOP attitude mill for the past several decades.
If you’re talking spineless, I think the spine they need to get would be the one that tells Rush to shut his trap, tells the far right crazy’s to get a grip, and reclaims the political center along WITH the majority of Democrats who are not nearly as radical as they’re usually painted. They should stop blaming everybody else and look to their own policies and consider who it is they’re catering to here. Currently it’s the Sarah Palins, Donald Trumps and various social regressives of the world, when they’d be better off steering towards the Chris Christies and Michael Bloombergs.