On Tuesday night, history was made as President Barack Obama addressed the joint houses of Congress for the first time. I, however, didn’t watch the President’s speech at all. People tend to not enjoy my company whenever Obama speaks, because I always seem to feel an inexplicable urge to respond to every statement that he makes.
Truthfully, I was much more interested in watching Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana deliver the Republican response to President Obama. Gov. Jindal is an amazing conservative who has completely turned around the state of Louisiana. Considering that many consider Gov. Jindal to be a “rising star’ in the GOP, I was very interested to see how he would fare in his first prime time speech.
I was pretty disappointed. Although the substance in his speech was good, Gov. Jindal appeared to be uncomfortable reading from a teleprompter. I also think that his delivery didn’t encourage anyone to actually take seriously what he was saying. In short, he came across as too nice. In Gov. Jindal’s case, for him to be taken seriously as a speaker, he needs to come across as more determined and aggressive than he was on Tuesday night.
The most influential figures in politics are always able to communicate a message effectively. Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama have all proven this. For Republicans to take back the White House in 2012, we need someone who is capable of communicating the conservative message strongly and effectively. In my view, the only person who can currently do that is Mike Huckabee.
It is way too early to endorse a candidate for 2012, however, if all the “potential” Republican candidates were to announce today, I would have to again endorse Mike Huckabee. I’m not writing off anyone, but if Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin intend to elevate their political careers any further, they need to specialize their messages, so that voters in primary states will take them seriously. I think that Govs. Jindal and palin are both great public servants, but if they are the best and brightest that we can offer, then they better improve on their communication skills.
