On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Chuck Todd did his best to play up Republican criticism of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal following the start of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Meet the Press moderator stressed how following Jindal’s campaign announcement he wasn’t “getting a favorite son send-off” and how his approval rating in Louisiana was “actually lower than President Obama’s job rating” in the state.
Not to be content, Todd went on to proclaim that he “put a summary together” of “Republican criticism of your tenure as governor” to downplay Jindal’s presidential ambitions:
Jennifer Ruben, conservative columnist of Washington Post says you suffer from “awkward ever-eagerness.” Republican State Representative Chris Broadwater says that he’s concerned your campaign doesn't reflect who you really are. Eric Erickson, an influential movement conservative said this about one of your appearances, that you throw rhetorical bombs simply to get noticed.
Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review called one of your plans -- your health care plan simply would cause millions to lose coverage. You don't deal with that. Former Republican Governor Buddy Roemer says when it comes to Baton Rouge, you've gone AWOL. What's happened here? Why do so many Republicans seem concerned/critical of your tenure as governor and of your launch here on the national stage?
For his part, Jindal rejected Todd’s line of questioning and noted that he’s not afraid of polls:
If I were afraid of polls, I never would have been elected in two landslide elections, winning the highest percentage in our state's last election for governor. If I were afraid of polls we wouldn't have privatized our charity hospital system, wouldn't cut our state budget 26%, wouldn't have cut over 30,000 state government bureaucrats, wouldn't have done state wide school choice.
After he explained that the country needs someone to go to Washington and shake up the status quo, Todd continued to hit Jindal over his record as Louisiana governor:
Your state, according to CNBC, ranks 46th out of 50 in 2015 as a state to do business. How do you take that record to conservative Republicans and say, make me the executive in charge?
Once again, Jindal refused to accept Todd’s premise regarding his tenure in Louisiana and he explained that growth in government is not an appropriate measure of a successful leader:
We measure success by how people are doing in the real world not in the government sector. I know that a lot of politicians, Republicans and Democrats, don't like that, but that's how we measure success.
See relevant transcript below.
NBC’s Meet the Press
June 28, 2015
CHUCK TODD: I want to go to the launch of your campaign. You don't start -- at least at home, it's not like you're not getting a favorite son send-off. Here’s your job approval rating, the most recent poll, Southern Media Opinion Research, sitting at 32%, that was actually lower than President Obama's job rating in the state of Louisiana. And then I put a summary together of what has been Republican criticism of your tenure as governor. Jennifer Ruben, conservative columnist of Washington Post says you suffer from “awkward ever-eagerness.”
Republican State Representative Chris Broadwater says that he’s concerned your campaign doesn't reflect who you really are. Eric Erickson, an influential movement conservative said this about one of your appearances, that you throw rhetorical bombs simply to get noticed. Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review called one of your plans -- your health care plan simply would cause millions to lose coverage. You don't deal with that. Former Republican Governor Buddy Roemer says when it comes to Baton Rouge, you've gone AWOL. What's happened here? Why do so many Republicans seem concerned/critical of your tenure as governor and of your launch here on the national stage?
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TODD: Well, I tell you, your state, according to CNBC, ranks 46th out of 50 in 2015 as a state to do business. How do you take that record to conservative Republicans and say, make me the executive in charge?
