I don’t think there’s any of us who believe that the GOP has great messaging. If anything it seems to be the one thing Democrats have perfected (with the help of the MSM) and something Republicans are still trying to figure out, if that. And you’d think after the Bush years, after being beat up so badly by the press and not lifting a finger to defend themselves that we’d be much more focused on fixing that problem.
Well it seems Jindal is fed up with it and has some strong words for the GOP, mainly that we have to ensure that people know that we are on their side and not on the side of big business and the rich:
POLITICO – 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.”
Calling on the GOP to be “the party of ideas, details and intelligent solutions,” the Louisianan urged the party to “stop reducing everything to mindless slogans, tag lines, 30-second ads that all begin to sound the same.”
He added: “Simply being the anti-Obama party didn’t work. You can’t beat something with nothing. The reality is we have to be a party of solutions and not just bumper-sticker slogans but real detailed policy solutions.”
…
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.
“We’re a populist party and we’ve got to make that clear going forward,” he said.
Out of all the criticism and self reflection in the Republican Party since the election, this is exactly where I believe we need to focus our attention. Otherwise it will keep hounding us and we will keep losing elections. We cannot allow the Democrats to continue to frame our party as the party of the rich because it’s just not true.