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How Bobby Jindal Fell on His Face on National TV

Published February 28th, 2009 in News Hits, Uncategorized | No Comments »

By all accounts, Bobby Jindal bombed while giving the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s speech before Congress on Tuesday.

There are public speaking gaffes and there are public speaking disasters. Bobby Jindal’s national debut on Tuesday has already been panned as a tragic error by a Republican leader being touted as a potential presidential candidate. Rather than detail the mistakes made by the popular Louisiana governor, we’re going to take a look at how he could have improved.

1. Tone – From the outset of his speech, Jindal appeared rehearsed. He was clearly uncomfortable with either the words or the setting and that discomfort led to a delivery that sounded pretentious and condescending. He didn’t write the speech and it’s likely he ceded too much control of his performance to aides or Republican decision makers. What Jindal should have done was work more of his own personality into the speech. When you get lampooned on the Daily Show for being Mister Rogers, you’ve hit the absolute wrong tone for the times.

2. Accuracy – Jindal’s account of his performance during Hurricane Katrina has been revealed as exaggerated. The shame is he’s accomplished so much worth noting, he didn’t need to stretch the truth. Barack Obama has people expecting straight talk and any politician hoping to succeed on the national stage can’t be found fudging their record.

3. Substance – Jindal could have picked any number of items in the stimulus bill or budget to ridicule, choosing spending on volcano monitoring to criticize was a huge blunder. He oversees the state still struggling with the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history. This choice was again one that a speechwriter likely made for Jindal and he needed to vet that decision.

4. Lack of consistency – At the outset of his speech Jindal praised Obama and ridiculed the GOP then he attempted to flip his stance on both counts. Tough to do and it didn’t work. He should have done what Obama so deftly does: Politely show respect for his opponent’s argument then tear it apart piece by piece. Jindal came across as unprepared for the next step and that’s yet another blow for the flailing Republicans.

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How Barack Obama Won the Presidency

Published November 3rd, 2008 in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

With a Barack Obama victory an apparent given, the analysis of the U.S. presidential election will soon turn to how the 47-year-old junior senator from Illinois managed to become the most improbable leader of the nation. That is, of course, presuming he is victorious on Election Day this Tuesday.

The charge that the media is complicit in Obama’s victory is a fallacy. The truth is nothing has stuck to Obama because he and his campaign team have not let up on their astounding level of organization and diligence.

Down the stretch, there were no major screw-ups. Yes, Joe Biden opened his mouth before thinking carefully about what was going to come out of it and it’s true that Obama should have been less diplomatic and more assertive during his encounter with Joe the Plumber. But compared to the on-air gaffes of Sarah Palin, the “Meet the Press” debacle where John McCain couldn’t remember the name of George Schultz and the failure of Joe to show up for a campaign stop, Obama has looked impeccable.

Several weeks ago, we wrote that the candidate who wins the soundbite war will likely win the election. For all his eloquent speeches, Obama has not had a “free at last” or “ask what you can do for the country” moment. The phrase that defines him, it appears, is still to come. For now, we have the “Yes, we can” mantra, which doesn’t grow old simply because of the rising numbers that continue to utter it. And to prove he is a rock star he has managed to get his sychophants engaged in his speeches as if they were reciting the lyrics to a hit song. He says, “You don’t boo McCain, what do you do?” And they chant, “Vote.” (Who knew politics could be so cool?)

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