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| Source:POLITICO- Governor Bobby Jindal (Republican, Louisiana) |
"Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday called on Republicans to “stop being the stupid party” and make a concerted effort to reach a broader swath of voters with an inclusive economic message that pre-empts efforts to caricature the GOP as the party of the rich.
In his first interview since his party’s electoral thumping last week, Jindal urged Republicans to both reject anti-intellectualism and embrace a populist-tinged reform approach that he said would mitigate what exit polls show was one of President Barack Obama’s most effective lines of attack against Mitt Romney.
“We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything,” Jindal told POLITICO in a 45-minute telephone interview. “We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys.”
He was just as blunt on how the GOP should speak to voters, criticizing his party for offending and speaking down to much of the electorate.
“It is no secret we had a number of Republicans damage our brand this year with offensive, bizarre comments — enough of that,” Jindal said. “It’s not going to be the last time anyone says something stupid within our party, but it can’t be tolerated within our party. We’ve also had enough of this dumbed-down conservatism. We need to stop being simplistic, we need to trust the intelligence of the American people and we need to stop insulting the intelligence of the voters.”
From POLITICO
But if you want to look at the modern Republican Party, they're essentially a right-wing, populist, Protestant-Anglo-Saxon, blue-collar, rural and southern political party. With a lot of these folks looking down at people from big cities and metros, who not just have college educations, but multiples degrees, from multiple schools. They see the modern America, the diverse America, (I would argue the real America) as a threat to their way of life and culture.
Not every Republican obviously is an Anglo-Saxon-Protestant-fundamentalist, from either the deep south or from a very small town. Just look at who they nominated for President this year, but that by-in-large is who the Republican Party is today. Look at who they send to the U.S. House of Representatives and in many case to the U.S. Senate as well, who wins their governors races and serves in their state legislatures.
I agree with Bobby Jindal that for the Republican Party to remain competitive in the future, that it has to broaden its base. I don't now how you do that and keep the most loyal Republicans in the party today, which is it's populist, southern and rural, blue-collar base.
