E-mails I’m getting are from disappointed conservatives. They wanted a full-throated response to Obama and expected and/or wanted more. I wonder how many watched the response as if Bobby Jindal were the single alternative to what we’ve got now. Of course, if Jindal were to run in four our eight years, he’d have more experience and more national speeches under his belt by then.
UPDATE: Other e-mails:
My husband and I thought Jindal’s speech was very good. Simple – direct- very personable.
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Jindal seems to be getting rave reviews from the focus groups – perhaps their opinions matter more than political geeks like us. The word coming from them is that he was “positive”
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Geez, when do you guys ever learn? “Delivery was weak”? Jindal gave a clear-eyed annunciation of conservative principles boiled down in a simple, stark message: government should have faith in Americans (and not vice versa) to solve this crisis. “Americans can do anything!” His delivery, if that is so important, started off shaky but got markedly better as the speech went on. Even more importantly, the whole speech was replete with bedrock conservatism couched in a conversational and simplified structure. In that respect (and probably the most important respect, mind you), it was truly Reaganesque.
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I thought Jindal had a weak start, opening by walking towards the camera looked dorky, and the speech itself didn’t begin very smoothly. But he got stronger as he went along. More importantly, that was an excellent encapsulation of true conservative economy policy. Best I’ve heard from a big-time politician in many years. Not just platitudes about “limited government”, but drawing a contrast between trusting politicians vs. trusting the people. Maybe not Reaganesque in its delivery, but not Bushesque or McCainesque either.