Speech Could Cost Jindal At Home- "There Was Already Blood In The Water"
by Nate Monroe - Reveille (excerpt)

(T)he speech’s hostile rhetoric toward federal government intervention and the stimulus has also drawn the ire of state and local lawmakers — a tarnish to Jindal’s reputation at home and possibly emboldening the state Legislature.

The style of Jindal’s speech was “not as disturbing as the substance,” said Robert Mann, political communication professor and former communications director for Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Mann said the speech was “void of any kind of imagination” and intellectually dishonest.

In the speech, Jindal criticized “dependence on government” to solve the nation’s economic problems, a message Mann said is hypocritical given Louisiana’s reliance on federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the incoming funds from the recently signed stimulus package. “If [the stimulus] is generational theft, he needs to have the courage to tell the federal government to take a hike,” Mann said.

Mann said the politics of the stimulus are tricky for Jindal — turning down more of the federal dollars would likely result in action by the Legislature to override Jindal, while not speaking out against the massive federal spending bill could cost Jindal credibility nationally.

Mann said the speech set back Jindal’s national reputation and has made him “less intimidating” to the state Legislature. “There was already blood in the water from the pay raise issue,” Mann said. “There’s even more now.”

But Mann said if Jindal can admit to screwing up the content and delivery of his speech — as well as demonstrate a capacity for humorous self-deprecation — Jindal can limit the fallout from his ill-received address. “We’re going to find out if he can take a punch,” Mann said.

COMMENTARY: Now that Governor Jindal has been on '60 Minutes' and had his '15 Minutes of Fame' delivering a speech to the nation, maybe he will settle in here in Louisiana and give us 'a few minutes of his wisdom.'