The first thing going through your mind when you read the news these days is probably not how state governments are functioning. It’s so irresistible to watch the antics in Washington that almost no one is concentrating on what’s happening at home.
Gov. Bobby Jindal is out to change this.
He is rightly shifting, or at least trying to shift, constituents’ focus to state capitals. There, he argues, Republican governors are upholding and executing the conservative values they ran their campaigns on. By limiting the importance of the federal government, states can play a more important role, and conservative governors can make a bigger difference.
He asks why Congress should retain the limelight during its tirade when nothing is actually happening.
In a speech last Wednesday as the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Jindal sought to distance Republican governors from their compatriots battling it out in the Capitol with the president, congressional Democrats and seemingly, most of America. He told people to focus on the good that GOP governors are doing rather than the mess happening in Washington.
“We have outsourced the Republican brand to Washington, D.C., and it’s time to stop that,” he told The Advocate.
Though he stopped short of placing any blame on congressional Republicans, Jindal has clearly softened his line toward Obamacare. On Thursday, he told ABC News that he “won’t second guess” the Republicans’ strategy of using a shutdown and the debt ceiling as bargaining chips.
While he does not chastise, he is clearly distancing. He realizes that the longer this shutdown goes on, the further public opinion of his party falls. And with next year being an election year, he is trying to protect his fellow governors from a fate he thinks awaits many lawmakers.
There will be between five and 10 key gubernatorial races in 2014, according to The Advocate.
So as Republican popularity languishes, Jindal wants to change the conversation. That seems just about right for a Republican governor.
Now, it’s no surprise Jindal is trying to highlight the important role of an executive. His own presidential ambitions have hardly been concealed, and when he speaks on the national stage, it’s as though he is at the lectern for a presidential debate.
Can’t you see him saying in 2016 that he fought hard for conservative values when he was the head of the Republican Governors Association? It’s almost as if the election is just around the corner.
This is the most ironic part.
While he tries to convince the country that governors, not legislators, are the most efficient in instilling conservative values, his largest competitor for the nomination is another governor.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been gaining popularity on the national stage at the same time as Jindal. His folksy antics and stern response after Superstorm Sandy have made him the darling of the Garden State.
He is expected to win his gubernatorial race easily next year, without Jindal’s help. And this is in New Jersey, a state Obama carried with 58 percent of the vote in 2012, according to CNN.
Even if Christie should outdo Jindal, the GOP’s brightest prospects are coming from state capitals, not the U.S. Capitol. For logical Republicans, this offers hope that the future of the party lies outside of its radical Tea Party wing.
It’s unclear whether Jindal’s pro-governor crusade will come to fruition. But as elections approach, and as GOP popularity wanes, he is making an important step in distancing his party from the noise.
And maybe moving closer toward the White House.
Eli Haddow is a 20-year-old English and history junior from New Orleans.