BATON ROUGE, La. — Bobby Jindal’s rough national debut seems long forgotten.
Louisiana’s youthful governor routinely now receives praise in GOP circles across the nation. He’s being cast as a knowledgeable policy wonk with strong conservative credentials who appeals to the Christian right and can claim a long list of accomplishments, such as leading the state through a series of disasters, including the Gulf Coast oil spill.
He’s being talked up so often as a future leader in the party that Republicans, many in evangelical circles, say presidential candidate Mitt Romney would be crazy not to seriously consider choosing the 41-year-old Oxford-educated governor as a running mate.
Romney and Jindal planned to be together Monday at a fundraiser in the state, an appearance certain to increase the vice presidential speculation and draw more demurs from Jindal about whether he wants the job. “No disrespect to Joe Biden, nobody’s going to the voting booth and voting based on who’s vice president,” he told NBC on July 1.
Jindal’s rebound is something that Republicans in Washington once had suggested would be difficult, if not impossible, after his nationally televised response in 2009 to President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address to Congress was widely panned. Jindal’s fans and critics alike described his performance as awkward and amateurish, and said the governor was “not ready for prime time.”
Jindal has painstakingly worked to repair his image since then.
He did it by governing in line with his rock-ribbed conservative beliefs and showing leadership at critical times in a state often regarded as dysfunctional at best and corrupt at worst.
“He’s a real powerhouse,” said Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak, a Texas native who runs a political and communications strategy firm in Washington and doesn’t work for Jindal. “He’s as good as it gets from a conservative standpoint.”
In office since 2008, Jindal has rejected any tax increases, despite repeated rounds of budget cuts to education and health care. He also pushed into law a statewide voucher program and other initiatives that give Louisiana one of the most expansive school choice programs in the nation, a big priority for the conservative base of the party.
Even so, Jindal has drawn his share of criticism in the state, including from fellow Republicans.
Some fiscal conservatives in the Louisiana House don’t like the governor’s approach on budget matters, saying that using patchwork funding to pay for ongoing state services is at odds with his rhetoric of needing to shrink the size and costs of state government. Teacher unions and local school boards have sued over the constitutionality of his education revamp, and critics have complained about his deep cuts to state higher education funding. His ethics overhaul also has received criticism that it damaged enforcement.
Louisiana Democrats and other critics say that Jindal is pandering to national party interest and partisan politics at the expense of the state’s needs.
Louisiana’s youthful governor routinely now receives praise in GOP circles across the nation. He’s being cast as a knowledgeable policy wonk with strong conservative credentials who appeals to the Christian right and can claim a long list of accomplishments, such as leading the state through a series of disasters, including the Gulf Coast oil spill.
He’s being talked up so often as a future leader in the party that Republicans, many in evangelical circles, say presidential candidate Mitt Romney would be crazy not to seriously consider choosing the 41-year-old Oxford-educated governor as a running mate.
Romney and Jindal planned to be together Monday at a fundraiser in the state, an appearance certain to increase the vice presidential speculation and draw more demurs from Jindal about whether he wants the job. “No disrespect to Joe Biden, nobody’s going to the voting booth and voting based on who’s vice president,” he told NBC on July 1.
Jindal’s rebound is something that Republicans in Washington once had suggested would be difficult, if not impossible, after his nationally televised response in 2009 to President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address to Congress was widely panned. Jindal’s fans and critics alike described his performance as awkward and amateurish, and said the governor was “not ready for prime time.”
Jindal has painstakingly worked to repair his image since then.
He did it by governing in line with his rock-ribbed conservative beliefs and showing leadership at critical times in a state often regarded as dysfunctional at best and corrupt at worst.
“He’s a real powerhouse,” said Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak, a Texas native who runs a political and communications strategy firm in Washington and doesn’t work for Jindal. “He’s as good as it gets from a conservative standpoint.”
In office since 2008, Jindal has rejected any tax increases, despite repeated rounds of budget cuts to education and health care. He also pushed into law a statewide voucher program and other initiatives that give Louisiana one of the most expansive school choice programs in the nation, a big priority for the conservative base of the party.
Even so, Jindal has drawn his share of criticism in the state, including from fellow Republicans.
Some fiscal conservatives in the Louisiana House don’t like the governor’s approach on budget matters, saying that using patchwork funding to pay for ongoing state services is at odds with his rhetoric of needing to shrink the size and costs of state government. Teacher unions and local school boards have sued over the constitutionality of his education revamp, and critics have complained about his deep cuts to state higher education funding. His ethics overhaul also has received criticism that it damaged enforcement.
Louisiana Democrats and other critics say that Jindal is pandering to national party interest and partisan politics at the expense of the state’s needs.