Washington Post's Robert G. Kaiser in a post speech chat that really captured the evening (h/t Daily KOS):
Robert G. Kaiser: Well, this was an extraordinary speech. We certainly do have a new president. I'm eager to hear what you all thought of this. My own reaction was that Obama looked stronger and more confident tonight than I have ever seen him before--and he has never lacked for confidence in the past. I'll happily answer questions, and also post commentary if you want to send in your own evaluation.
...
Washington: What was with the Republicans? They seemed not to know when to cheer, when to stand up, when to keep still -- confusion reigned, no?
Robert G. Kaiser: Wasn't that fascinating? I saw a real change as the speech unfolded. Initially the Republicans tried to sit on their hands and avoid cheering for things they disapproved of. But I sensed that as the speech went on they must have realized that he was effectively reaching his audience, and began to act as though they felt they should join the cheering.
...
Silver Spring, Md.: Why, exactly, can't this be called a State of the Union address?
Robert G. Kaiser: Because George W. Bush already gave this year's State of the Union address. I wonder how many people remember that (eminently forgettable--I was here that night as well) speech. Doesn't Bush feel like ancient history already? This always happens. I remember the sensation of Jimmy Carter disappearing, really disappearing, in 1981. Ring out the old--or wring out the old--is the American way.
...
Re: GOP: Bob, what do you make of the moves by some of the GOP governors lately, particularly Gov. Crist of Florida and Gov. Huntsman of Utah? Crist gave his public endorsement to the stimulus package, while Huntsman criticized Gov. Jindal for saying he wouldn't take some of the stimulus money. Also, the governor of Utah came out in favor of civil unions. What do Republicans like Crist and Huntsman hope to accomplish within the party?
Robert G. Kaiser: I am intrigued by the fact that we obviously have two Republican Parties now--at least. One is the House Republican Party, a staunchly conservative outfit that has yet to digest its own fate or think through the implications of its serious defeats in 2006 and 2008. Some Senators line up with the hard-line House Republicans, but others don't--hence the deal on the stimulus bill, made possible by three Republicans.
Then the governors, particularly the big-state governors like Crist and Arnold. They believe in government, and aren't ashamed to say so. They realize (as polls confirm) that voters now expect government to govern. They are, I think, nervous about their party's future if the House Republicans actually control the GOP.
Stay tuned. This is going to be an ongoing soap opera.,...
New York: With this speech, I felt we finally have shaken off George Bush. Obama was confident and totally in command. I thought he hit all of the major issues with intelligence and insight. Bobby Jindal, on the other hand, was wooden and seemed to be responding to a totally different speech. Did anybody hear Obama make a reference to government-run health care? The Republicans are still fighting old battles with old ideas.
Robert G. Kaiser: Thank you. I have long been intrigued by the "government-run health care" line. Millions of Americans of every political persuasion get very good health care, all of their own chosing, from the huge government program called Medicare. It is one of the most popular programs we have, according to many polls. In some sense it is "government run," but except for the esoteric treatments it won't cover, there are no directives to doctors or other manifestations of government interference in how docs treat their Medicare patients. Interestingly, when Obama said we have to finally solve the health care problem, Republicans joined Democrats on their feet, applauding.
...
Columbus, Ohio: Obama must exit campaign mode and enter governing mode. It's a difficult transition for him as he's never been a leader. He's been a continual candidate. Now, the real work begins. He's simply not up to the task. Take away the teleprompters and what do you have?
Robert G. Kaiser: Thanks for posting.
How would you compare him to his predecessor?...
Burke, Va.: He was mobbed by members of congress for autographs while working his way out of the hall. Is this usual?
Robert G. Kaiser: It is not usual. It was striking.
That heavy feeling in the pit of conservatives' stomachs this week was more than just indigestion brought on by the pork and fat in the Democrats' giant fiscal stimulus bill. Conservatives suspected that something irreversible was happening: that the sheer immensity of President Obama's fiscal and financial interventions may permanently change the size of government and the shape of post-Reagan conservatism.
David Brooks on PBS' "News Hour" regarding Jindal (originally via Singer at MyDD):
JIM LEHRER: Now that, of course, was Gov. Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, making the Republican response. David, how well do you think he did?
DAVID BROOKS: Uh, not so well. You know, I think Bobby Jindal is a very promising politician, and I oppose the stimulus because I thought it was poorly drafted. But to come up at this moment in history with a stale "government is the problem," "we can't trust the federal government" - it's just a disaster for the Republican Party. The country is in a panic right now. They may not like the way the Democrats have passed the stimulus bill, but that idea that we're just gonna - that government is going to have no role, the federal government has no role in this, that - In a moment when only the federal government is actually big enough to do stuff, to just ignore all that and just say "government is the problem, corruption, earmarks, wasteful spending," it's just a form of nihilism. It's just not where the country is, it's not where the future of the country is. There's an intra-Republican debate. Some people say the Republican Party lost its way because they got too moderate. Some people say they got too weird or too conservative. He thinks they got too moderate, and so he's making that case. I think it's insane, and I just think it's a disaster for the party. I just think it's unfortunate right now.
- Time's Amy Sullivan
How bad was Bobby Jindal tonight? On "Charlie Rose," David Brooks called the Louisiana Republican's remarks the worst response to a speech ever, and added--as if that wasn't clear--"That response from the most prominent Republican competition was to me an unmitigated disaster." Within an hour of the speech, a Google search for "jindal kenneth 30 rock" yielded almost 75,000 hits. Jindal's fellow travelers on Fox News used words like "sing-song" and "childish" to describe his delivery.
Maybe it's because I get motion-sickness on bandwagons, but I'm almost tempted to disagree. Almost.
- hickoryduck Says:
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:45 amAs an Indian-American myself, that opening and the "Jai No" literally made me laugh out loud.
-
It's true that the people doing the response always have a hard time, but this was on a whole other level of awfulness. I can't even really put into words my thoughts about how bad it was.- Ezra Klein on JINDAL.
- Bobby Jindal's delivery is very strange. As if Kenneth from '30 Rock' began doing infomercials. The most interesting part of the speech, actually, came right before it started. On MSNBC, Matthews said that "the only space Obama has left open in America is on the far-right." And Jindal's speech is proving it: It's like a time capsule. "Dangerous enemies still seek our destruction." "The strength of America is not found in our government." "Democratic leaders in Washington place their hope in the federal government. We place our hope in you."
The only real surprise was Jindal's decision to invoke Katrina as a model of government failure. Which is true, I guess. But this, I think, is what my grandfather would call chutzpah. And it goes back to the Stewart quote from below: It's as if they don't think Americans are smart enough to remember who was running the government in 2005.
Beyond that, it's a speech that Boehner could have given in 2007 and that Frist could have given in 2005 and that Lott could have given in 1998 and that Gingrich could have given in 1993. Jindal made a mistake accepting the GOP's invitation to give this response. Yesterday, he seemed like a different kind of Republican. Today, he doesn't.
No comments:
Post a Comment