In some ways it is almost hysterical to watch some of the "stars" in the GOP suddenly sing a different song in the wake of the 2012 elections. Before the election they pandered to some of the most ignorant and knuckle dragging elements in the Republican Party - i.e., Christofascists and the Tea Party - yet now the are talking about the need to restore some level of intellect and rationality to the GOP. Obviously, they are suffering from severe cases of Romnesia. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is a case in point. Jindal has repeatedly embraced some of the worse batshitery of the far right yet he now is lecturing folks that the GOP needs to "end 'dumbed-down conservatism.' He is obviously talking out of both sides of his mouth since he continues to pander to the Christofascists on abortion and gay marriage - two issues that likely cost the GOP the election. Politico looks at Jindal's farcical about face. Here are highlights:
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.
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.
[H]is analysis Monday suggests he’s aligning himself with an emerging school of thought on the right that the GOP’s consecutive White House defeats can’t merely be solved by passing an immigration reform bill and appealing more directly to nonwhites. Jindal, a Brown Graduate and Rhodes Scholar, is already a favorite of conservative intellectuals and his assessment that Republican difficulties owe as much to economics as demographics will be well-received by right-leaning thinkers. Since last week, a sort of backlash to the backlash has sprouted up, with some conservatives castigating what they see as too much knee-jerk pandering on immigration and not enough discussion of what they see as the party’s unimaginative, donor-driven fiscal policies.
On cultural issues, he suggested the party not retreat from its stances opposing abortion rights and gay marriage but rather soften its tone on such matters.
His home-state critics will argue that his rhetoric doesn’t match his policies — he’s currently taking heat for deep cuts to Louisiana’s public hospital system. But the governor said Republicans should frame themselves as on the side of the people.
Jindal, decrying the GOP’s tendency to reminisce about how things were “better in the good ol’ days,” is tougher on his party’s tone than its substance. He’s an unapologetic conservative who doesn’t want to deviate from small-government principles. But he’s firing a warning to Republicans that they must change how they’re perceived.
In sum, Jindal wants to put lipstick on the pig that the GOP has become and dupe voters even as nothing really changes. That most assuredly is not a true change but simply more deception. Jindal needs to get his head out of his bigoted and lying ass.
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