Republicans have “got to stop being the stupid party” and starting “talking like adults.”
Republicans “need to change just about everything [they] do” and get away from “dumbed-down conservatism.”
“Let’s stop kicking people out that want to make this a better country.”
Who would say these things about the Republican Party? Is it President Barack Obama? We know it’s not Vice President Joe Biden, because there’s no sexual innuendo involved.
Maybe it’s a Republican who feels shunned from the party for being “too moderate” — someone like former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.
Or maybe it’s a Republican who feels ignored for being “too extreme,” like former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.
It’s actually none other than Gov. Bobby Jindal, responding to the Republicans’ loss of the most recent presidential election.
Is he right?
Let’s start by looking at the new class of Republican politicians people are talking about.
In addition to Jindal, this list includes people such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. — and former Romney Vice President choice — Paul Ryan.
I want to go ahead and remove Ryan from the discussion. Republicans think his youth is enough to put him in the new class of conservatives, mainly because youth is about as familiar to the establishment as bisexual Mayans.
The other three have in some way taken a stand against the party (at least once).
Christie is a blunt guy who every once in a while does something he shouldn’t, like meet with the president during the worst American natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina.
Rubio isn’t that bad, either. He just wants to work with Democrats to reform immigration.
That brings us to Jindal.
Until his recent barrage of statements, Jindal has pretty much stayed inside party lines. He hasn’t done anything radical, and he’s played well with the national boys.
But back to the question. Jindal has heavily criticized the party recently — but is he correct?
In spirit, at least, the answer is yes.
He calls the Republican Party “the stupid party.” I think it’s more a party with some stupid people in it, but he’s getting the point across.
Need an example? Look no further than Todd Akin. If you don’t know who Akin is, you would have most likely stopped reading by now, but humor me.
Akin said this about getting pregnant from being raped: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
I haven’t heard anything to beat that since then, except from San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, who said gay players would not be welcome in his team’s locker room: “The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel.”
Of all the teams in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers are not who I would expect to make the most recent gay-bashing headlines.
Jindal’s comments about letting immigrants who want to improve the country stay are also a little surprising. The party has, for the most part, strayed from the illegal immigration issue, except to talk about building a fence.
Though Jindal doesn’t discredit the importance of keeping illegals out of the country, he does do something new — he talks about doing something for those who are already here.
Jindal, Christie and others are trying to rebrand the Republican Party, and it’s working.
If conservatives can get away from the nitpicking and start proposing actual solutions to our nation’s problems, they may be able to better connect with average Americans.
It’s hard to find someone who cares that the national debt went from $15 to $16 trillion last year, but it’s easy to find someone who will be hurt by new tax increases.
Jindal is on to something. The Republican Party won’t be far behind.
