I actually liked Bobby Jindal at one point. I know that puts me in the same category with Rush but for different reasons. But his speech the other night was a horror. Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, who railed against Palin as vice president, says Jindal was dumbed down by his staff.
RCP: I know Bobby Jindal, and that guy wasn't Bobby Jindal.While Parker blames Jindal's staff for writing the speech, Jindal would've been stupid not to read it or make necessary changes. Parker said he was dumbed down on purpose, so I guess if we believe her analysis, republicans largely believe Americans are ignorant. Republicans haven't figured out that we now want our leaders to be smart.
The real Jindal is the intellectual equivalent of a nuclear power plant. The real Jindal has actually read the stimulus bill and can recite its contents. The real Jindal is the sort of politician who promises ethics and education reform, and actually delivers.
Stories of Jindal's ability to quickly assess a problem and fix it have become the stuff of legend in Louisiana, as when he was assigned the task of reforming the state's Medicaid program and presented a workable plan the following morning. He was in his 20s.
That kind of performance, followed by his bare-hands approach to Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts as a Louisiana congressman, helped him become the nation's youngest governor in 2007. What happened to that guy? Who snatched his body?
His staff did. Read the rest.
Being the smartest person in the room can be a mixed blessing. Whether it is advantage or handicap for a brainy candidate depends on having the right people around him. At the moment, Jindal seems to be handicapped by handlers who either don't trust their candidate or have no faith in Americans' intelligence.
In coaching him to dim the lights a tad, they stole his spark. Dumbing down doesn't come naturally to wunderkinds like Jindal. In trying to sound human, he sounds fake. In attempting to convey everydayness, he comes across as an extraterrestrial.
