WASHINGTON — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal again found himself carrying the Republican mantle opposite a primetime appearance from President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying Republicans must be ready to defy the president when they disagree with his policies.
He also joked about his widely panned response to Obama’s address to Congress last month.
“We are now in the position of being the loyal opposition,” Jindal said at a Republican congressional fundraising dinner that only by coincidence fell on the same night as Obama’s news conference. “The right question to ask is not if we want the president to fail or succeed, but whether we want America to succeed.”
Saying “the time for talking about the past is over,” Jindal said Republicans have begun to find their voice after back-to-back elections losses — motivated by what he called historic Democratic spending excess.
Jindal is widely considered a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate, but his televised response to Obama’s speech at the Capitol last month was widely panned. At Tuesday’s $2,500-per-plate dinner — which President George W. Bush headlined last year — Jindal poked fun of his earlier talk.
“They’re not allowed to show my speech at Gitmo anymore,” he said. “They’ve banned that.”
The Associated Press
