BOBBY JINDAL SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER
Louisiana Gov Bobby Jindal will deliver a forceful denunciation of of his party's Washington-centric focus in a speech at the Republican National Committee on Thursday evening, arguing that the GOP is fighting the wrong fight as it seeks to rebuild from losses at the ballot box last November.
In the speech, Jindal will caution that Republicans in Washington have fallen into the "sideshow trap" of debating with Democrats over the proper size of the federal government.
Running against Washington - and the Republicans who inhabit it - is smart politics for Jindal. Congress, viewed broadly, is at or close to all-time lows when it comes to approval ratings. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted earlier this month, just 24 percent of those tested approved of the job Republicans in Congress were doing.
Even more stunning, among self-identified Republicans only 39 percent offered a favorable rating for their own party's representatives, while 58 percent viewed their own elected officials in an unfavorable light.
While Jindal's attack on his party's failed focus is the main thrust of his speech, he also took time to excoriate his party for some of the shortcomings made clear during the 2012 election.
.On Mitt Romney's 47 percent comments: "We must compete for every single vote - the 47 percent and the 53 percent, and any other combination that adds up to 100 percent".
.On the likes of Todd Aiken and Richard Mourdock: "It's time for a new Republican party that talks like adults. We had a number of Republicans damage the Republican brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. We've had enough of that".
-Wash Post, THE FIX by Chris Cillizza, 01/24/13
Not sure if Jindal will take on Repub extreme commentators like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity - probably not.
"...the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today, and forever"
-Poet Richard Blanco at President Obama's Inauguration, 01/21/13
