Bobby Jindal Rejects Romney’s Assertion That “Gifts” Won Obama The Election

Mitt Romney’s theory that the President won the election because he promised “gifts” to a wide variety of interests groups is being panned by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal:

LAS VEGAS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal forcefully rejected Mitt Romney’s claim that he lost because of President Barack Obama’s “gifts” to minorities and young voters.

Asked about the failed GOP nominee’s reported comments on a conference call with donors earlier Wednesday, the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association became visibly agitated..

“No, I think that’s absolutely wrong,” he said at a press conference that opened the RGA’s post-election meeting here. “Two points on that: One, we have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100 percent of the votes, not 53 percent. We need to go after every single vote.

“And, secondly, we need to continue to show how our policies help every voter out there achieve the American Dream, which is to be in the middle class, which is to be able to give their children an opportunity to be able to get a great education. … So, I absolutely reject that notion, that description. I think that’s absolutely wrong.”.

He reiterated the points for emphasis.

“I don’t think that represents where we are as a party and where we’re going as a party,” he said. “That has got to be one of the most fundamental takeaways from this election: If we’re going to continue to be a competitive party and win elections on the national stage and continue to fight for our conservative principles, we need two messages to get out loudly and clearly: One, we are fighting for 100 percent of the votes, and secondly, our policies benefit every American who wants to pursue the American dream. Period. No exceptions.”

(…)

“Gov. Romney’s an honorable person that needs to be thanked for his many years of public service, but his campaign was largely about his biography and his experience,” he said. “And it’s a very impressive biography and very impressive set of experiences. But time and time again, biography and experience is not enough to win an election. You have to have a vision. You have to connect your policies to the aspirations of the American people. I don’t think the campaign did that, and as a result this became a contest between personalities. And you know what? Chicago won that.”

Jindal, of course, is frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for President in 2016, and it seems clear from his comments that he wants to disassociate the GOP from the divisive rhetoric that comments like Romney’s represent. Most importantly, though, it seems clear that Jindal recognizes that Romney’s rhetoric is not going to do anything to heal the divisions from the election and move on to the future. Romney’s comments were, as I noted last night, completely off base, so it’s no surprise to see Jindal and others rejecting them.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. john personna says:

    Actually it is a surprise that Jindal would break and not just play the game. Good on him. It has been very easy for other Republican office seekers to just buy the epistemic closure of the day.

  2. DC Loser says:

    JIndal is placing himself as the ‘sane’ and salable GOP candidate that minority voters can identify with in 2016. Question is whether he can survive the primaries and the crazies that will be running against and trashing him. Jindal/Haley 2016?

  3. Herb says:

    We have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100 percent of the votes

    Yes!

    we need to continue to show how our policies help every voter out there achieve the American Dream

    Um….close, but better idea: Get some policies that will actually do that.

    Tax cuts for millionaires? Wars? Austerity? Trying to pass that off as policies that will “help every voter out there achieve the American Dream” is a con job.

  4. Bleev K says:

    And, secondly, we need to continue to show how our policies help every voter out there achieve the American Dream, which is to be in the middle class, which is to be able to give their children an opportunity to be able to get a great education.

    A creationist talking about education… That’s not my american dream.

  5. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Obviously Jindal here is going in another direction. He fancies himself a Prez contender for ’16. It’s not as if the media by then will be any less partisan. It’s not as if the electorate by then will be any less dependent upon the gumbmint. If anything the former will be more out to get whomever the GOP nominates and the latter even will be more in need of the mommy state.

    It’s a viable general election strategy. Jindal’s problem, like any sentient and professional governor, however, will be the GOP primary process and the bad demographics associated therewith.

  6. Geek, Esq. says:

    He’s gotta wash that stench right out of his hair . . .

    Republicans all of a sudden not willing to be associated with a sneering plutocrats’s sociopathic rantings.

    Elections have consequences.

  7. Geek, Esq. says:

    @Tsar Nicholas:

    Jindal has enough conservative credentials that he can afford to tack towards human decency. Romney had to beef up his uncompassionate, severely conservative credentials.

  8. An Interested Party says:

    It’s not as if the media by then will be any less partisan. It’s not as if the electorate by then will be any less dependent upon the gumbmint.

    It’s not as if by then you will stop being a whiny, victimized hack spewing your usual drivel…

  9. LaMont says:

    I’m calling BS on Jindal remarks. Just one week ago he was a leading Romney supporter. This was after Romney’s “47%” comments. How and the heck can he and others do a 180 degree flip on Romney is beyond me. I know the truth has to come out that not even many republicans liked Romney to begin with but they are still in lock-step with his policies – which air on the premise of Romney’s latest remarks. Its easy to throw a loser under the bus in hindsight! Its a lot tougher to change your mind in the way of policy. That doesn’t just happen overnight as Romney tried to lead so many to believe in his campaign. Jendal is a major league BULL*****er just like Romney has proven to be. Excuse my skeptical view of jindal’s comments but I’ve seen this script before!!! And it’s people like Romney…errr..Jindal that make me think the way I do!

  10. mantis says:

    “It seems to me like the president measures success by how many people are on food stamp rolls and government-run health care. That’s not the American dream.”

    That’s Bobby Jindal in July of this year. I guess he has decided on a different tactic for 2016. Don’t believe a word of it.

  11. Rob in CT says:

    The devil is in the policy details, as always.

    The party of the “haves” can, if it so chooses, attempt to craft policy that will result in more “haves” and thus hope to win elections that way.

    Or it could just keep catering to a narrow slice of the haves while bullshitting the rest of us. I suspect Jindal really just wants more palatable bullshit.

  12. stonetools says:

    Whats interesting is that even though the two of the Republicans’ governors are Asian American and Asian Americans are seen as the affluent “model minority ” that should naturally vote Republican, Asian Americans voted 3-to-1 in favor of Obama. Why is that?
    IMO, the reason is that the Republican Party is designed to appeal to particular categories of voter-affluent, white, socially and fiscally conservative. If you don’t fit within those categories, you aren’t welcome in the Republican Party. Republicans will tolerate the odd brown-skinned person if they fit within the other categories, and they will even vote for them, but that’s about it. When the Republicans talk about taking “our country” back, its understood that they don’t really include “Asians” in that “our”. The Democratic Party, OTOH, looks like a genuine coalition, in which you can be Asian, including culturally Asian, and still be welcome.
    Jindal seems to be saying is that the problem with the Republican Party message is that they just have to change the rhetoric and the messenger and that’s enough. That seems wrong to me. The Republican message is likely to fail even if the 2016 ticket is Rubio-Jindal.Rubio is not going to win Hispanics, if he tells them (even in Spanish) that they need to self deport and Jindal isn’t going to win Asians if his message is that they should oppose the teaching of evolution in schools and oppose access to reproductive services in almost all circumstances.

  13. anjin-san says:

    Jindal was fully on board when he thought Romney might win:

    Louisiana Gov. Bob Jindal, who has vowed to reject the expansion of Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health care law, charged Tuesday that the president “measures success by how many people are on food stamp rolls and government-run health care.”

    “The president, his administration, needs to understand what makes this country great in part is that we’re not dependent on government programs,” the Republican governor said on “Fox & Friends.” “It seems to me like the president measures success by how many people are on food stamp rolls and government-run health care. That’s not the American dream.”

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78095.html

    Now that Obama punk slapped Romney, Jindal is singing a different tune. Not buying it. This guy lied about his heroic actions post-Katrina on his national TV rollout. If you lie about that, you will like about anything. The reason he supported Romeny with such enthusiasm is that they share the same beliefs.

  14. de stijl says:

    I know that Jindal has been part of the problem in the past, but I applaud his verbal attempt at inclusiveness now. And if he can sustain it both verbally and with policy proposals and with politics that are less divisive, then good on him.

    Unless he recants his heresy as evidenced today, I wonder how long before Rush and company start referring to him as Piyush Jindal?