Governor Bobby Jindal began his CPAC remarks with a feisty statement.
“We love us some guns and religion and we make no apologies for it,” he told the applauding crowd, referring to a remark made in 2008 by then Senator Barack Obama about how small town people “cling to guns or religion.” The “we” he was referring to were the people of Louisiana.
Jindal took the stage a little after nine in the morning the last day of CPAC. While the crowd was slightly smaller than the crowds in previous days, a likely side effect of the Friday-night-into-Saturday-morning parties conference goers attend, they were enthusiastic and excited to hear from the popular Governor.
Jindal was elected to Louisiana’s highest office in 2007, previously serving two years in the US House of Representatives. Just months after taking office there was already massive buzz around Jindal and many speculated a Vice Presidential nomination in 2008. While the VP nomination eventually went to Sarah Palin, Jindal continued to make a name for himself both in Louisiana and across the country.
His speech at CPAC hit all the right notes: he was funny without being cheesy, informative without being wonky and opinionated without being preachy.
He began with recognizing and giving credit to Republican Governors across the country, specifically naming Rick Scott of Florida and Scott Walker of Wisconsin. It was a good segue into the meat of his remarks, specifically how Louisiana is putting conservative principles into action. He outlined his basic philosophy of governing: if you want to discourage an activity, tax it and if you want to encourage it, don’t tax it. Simple as that.
He spoke on cutting the Louisiana state budget and how as a Governor he had to make tough and not always popular choices to get his state going on the right path. He was happy to announce while the United States’ credit rating dropped, Louisiana’s is at its best in history. After touting their A grade for fiscal responsibility, Jindal talked about approving his fifth budget in a row that cut spending and balanced the budget without raising taxes. He went on to say that its results that are key and now people are moving into his state instead of moving away.
Jindal, like Marco Rubio, is a first generation American. And, also like Rubio, he likes to talk about growing up with parents that immigrated to the United States to pursue the American Dream. Jindal told the crowd about how after moving to Louisiana and knowing no one, his father cold called from a phone book to find a job. He stated that his father told him growing up, “You should be so grateful you life in America,” and it wasn’t until he was older that he truly began to understand that statement. “You can be anything you want to be,” he continued, “there are no limits to what you can accomplish the United States.”
Jindal’s biggest applause came after discussing education, empowering parents and the equality of opportunity. “The American Dream is that your last name or zip code,” he said, “doesn’t determine your outcome.”
