This is the eighth in a weekly series looking at possible 2012 presidential contenders. Click here to learn more about the series.
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), a 39-year-old Indian-American who became the nation’s youngest governor when elected in 2007, is considered by many to be one of the brightest young stars of the Republican party. A Rhodes Scholar, he studied at England’s Oxford University.
He has some gifts as a communicator, but does he have the seven traits that all eight winning presidential candidates have had since the beginning of the 24/7 media age in 1980?
He’s strongest on articulating a clear vision for the future, and paints a picture of creating cross-aisle solutions. In fact, he uses the word “bipartisan” five times during the six minute clip below. That gives his messaging a bit of forward-thinking optimism, a trait regularly rewarded by general election voters.
“I think there are productive solutions that conservatives can offer. It’s not enough just to point out why we’re opposed to the other side – I think we’ve done that well and I think we have reasons to worry about the tax and spending increases – but now’s the time to show how our ideas can actually move the country forward.”
As you’ll see in the clip below, Mr. Jindal displays a mastery of policy and delivers his points with confidence.
I’ll review Mr. Jindal’s flaws as a communicator and give him his grade after the clip.
Gov. Jindal speaks a bit too much like a Rhodes Scholar. In the interview above, he uses words and phrases such as, “segregating risk,” “tort reform,” “demonstration projects,” and “transparency of pricing and outcomes on the Internet.”
Those words mean little to a large percentage of the electorate – I’ve followed politics closely for 15 years and have no idea what Demonstration Projects are. (According to C-SPAN, they are “funded by the federal government in order to test new technology or policies” for “technology which might not find private funding.”)
Although he has an “intellectual” charisma, I question whether he’s going to be able to reach a broad public on a more visceral level.
Mr. Jindal would be well-advised to drop the awkward smile that follows many of his answers. He comes across as authentic during the rest of the interview, but the forced smile undoes some of his otherwise good delivery.
You may know Gov. Jindal primarily for his disastrous response to President Obama’s 2009 Joint Session Address. After that widely-panned performance, Mr. Jindal was unfavorably compared to 30 Rock’s Kenneth the Page.
But my sense is that Gov. Jindal is smart and self-aware enough to learn from that mistake. Mr. Jindal has several of the seven winning traits, and he would likely fare well during a general election.
GRADE: B-
To see the other candidates I’ve reviewed so far, click on their names: John Thune, Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour, Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum,Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Gary Johnson, Jim DeMint, Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama
