Jindal: GOP must stop being 'stupid party'
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called on the Republican Party to "stop being the stupid party" on Thursday as GOP leaders promised fundamental changes to help stave off future losses.
In the keynote address at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, Jindal said the GOP doesn't need to change its values but "might need to change just about everything else we are doing."
"We've got to stop being the stupid party. It's time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults," he said. "We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. I'm here to say we've had enough of that."
Jindal, thought to be a potential 2016 presidential contender, offered little detail in the 25-minute address. He called on conservatives to shift their focus from Capitol Hill number crunching to "the place where conservatism thrives — in the real world beyond the Washington Beltway."
Hours before the speech, Republican leaders promised to release in March a report, dubbed the "Growth and Opportunity Project," outlining recommendations on party rules and messaging designed to appeal to a rapidly changing American electorate. President Barack Obama's November victory was fueled, in part, by overwhelming support from the nation's Hispanic, Asian and African-American communities.
"Losing is not fun. We want to win," said GOP strategist Sally Bradshaw, who is among five people appointed by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to craft the report.
"I think you're going to see a very renewed, aggressive effort by this party to put on a different face," Bradshaw said. "We are going to go into areas that we do not go into and see folks that we do not see."
Republicans presidential nominee Mitt Romney struggled last fall to win over women and minorities, who overwhelmingly favored President Barack Obama's re-election bid. GOP officials conceded this week that they must change their tone and message, if not their policies, if they hope to expand their appeal in the coming years.
Romney alienated many Hispanic voters by highlighting his support for a fence along the Mexican border and "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants. Down-ticket Republican candidates alienated female voters by backing new abortion laws in a handful of swing states like Virginia and New Hampshire, while Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri hurt himself and his party by declaring that women's bodies could prevent pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape."
GOP strategist Ari Fleischer suggested that his party could learn an important lesson from Democrats on messaging: "Republicans talk policy and Democrats talk people. Republicans can learn a little bit from Democrats on how to make those people connections with our policies."
Jindal called on conservatives to stop fighting with Democrats on their terms about the size of government in Washington and focus instead on connecting with voters across the nation.
"Today's conservatism is completely wrapped up in solving the hideous mess that is the federal budget, the burgeoning deficits, the mammoth federal debt, the shortfall in our entitlement programs," he said. "We seem to have an obsession with government bookkeeping. This is a rigged game, and it is the wrong game for us to play."
Jindal's comments come a day after the House passed a bill to permit the government to borrow enough money to avoid a first-time default for at least four months, defusing a looming crisis setting up a springtime debate over taxes, spending and the deficit. The House passed the measure on a bipartisan basis as majority Republicans back away from their previous demand that any increase in the government's borrowing cap be paired with an equivalent level of spending cuts.
The Louisiana governor's blunt remarks follow criticism from another high-profile Republican based outside Washington who publicly blasted GOP leadership on Capitol Hill: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
One of the party's most popular voices, Christie earlier in the month criticized his party's "toxic internal politics" after House Republicans initially declined to approve disaster relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy. He said it was "disgusting to watch" their actions and he faulted the GOP's most powerful elected official, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting Thursday that Republicans also need to develop a sound strategy for confronting the Obama administration, suggesting House Republicans could use hearings to expose waste and promote better ideas.
"A lot of Republicans, frankly, spent the last two years saying, 'Oh, gee, we don't have to do much because after Obama loses we'll work with the new Republican president.' Well, that world ain't there," Gingrich said. "So now they have to make adjustments. They've got to understand that this is a different game."
In the keynote address at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, Jindal said the GOP doesn't need to change its values but "might need to change just about everything else we are doing."
"We've got to stop being the stupid party. It's time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults," he said. "We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. I'm here to say we've had enough of that."
Jindal, thought to be a potential 2016 presidential contender, offered little detail in the 25-minute address. He called on conservatives to shift their focus from Capitol Hill number crunching to "the place where conservatism thrives — in the real world beyond the Washington Beltway."
Hours before the speech, Republican leaders promised to release in March a report, dubbed the "Growth and Opportunity Project," outlining recommendations on party rules and messaging designed to appeal to a rapidly changing American electorate. President Barack Obama's November victory was fueled, in part, by overwhelming support from the nation's Hispanic, Asian and African-American communities.
"Losing is not fun. We want to win," said GOP strategist Sally Bradshaw, who is among five people appointed by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to craft the report.
"I think you're going to see a very renewed, aggressive effort by this party to put on a different face," Bradshaw said. "We are going to go into areas that we do not go into and see folks that we do not see."
Republicans presidential nominee Mitt Romney struggled last fall to win over women and minorities, who overwhelmingly favored President Barack Obama's re-election bid. GOP officials conceded this week that they must change their tone and message, if not their policies, if they hope to expand their appeal in the coming years.
Romney alienated many Hispanic voters by highlighting his support for a fence along the Mexican border and "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants. Down-ticket Republican candidates alienated female voters by backing new abortion laws in a handful of swing states like Virginia and New Hampshire, while Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri hurt himself and his party by declaring that women's bodies could prevent pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape."
GOP strategist Ari Fleischer suggested that his party could learn an important lesson from Democrats on messaging: "Republicans talk policy and Democrats talk people. Republicans can learn a little bit from Democrats on how to make those people connections with our policies."
Jindal called on conservatives to stop fighting with Democrats on their terms about the size of government in Washington and focus instead on connecting with voters across the nation.
"Today's conservatism is completely wrapped up in solving the hideous mess that is the federal budget, the burgeoning deficits, the mammoth federal debt, the shortfall in our entitlement programs," he said. "We seem to have an obsession with government bookkeeping. This is a rigged game, and it is the wrong game for us to play."
Jindal's comments come a day after the House passed a bill to permit the government to borrow enough money to avoid a first-time default for at least four months, defusing a looming crisis setting up a springtime debate over taxes, spending and the deficit. The House passed the measure on a bipartisan basis as majority Republicans back away from their previous demand that any increase in the government's borrowing cap be paired with an equivalent level of spending cuts.
The Louisiana governor's blunt remarks follow criticism from another high-profile Republican based outside Washington who publicly blasted GOP leadership on Capitol Hill: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
One of the party's most popular voices, Christie earlier in the month criticized his party's "toxic internal politics" after House Republicans initially declined to approve disaster relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy. He said it was "disgusting to watch" their actions and he faulted the GOP's most powerful elected official, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting Thursday that Republicans also need to develop a sound strategy for confronting the Obama administration, suggesting House Republicans could use hearings to expose waste and promote better ideas.
"A lot of Republicans, frankly, spent the last two years saying, 'Oh, gee, we don't have to do much because after Obama loses we'll work with the new Republican president.' Well, that world ain't there," Gingrich said. "So now they have to make adjustments. They've got to understand that this is a different game."
BTW, did everyone hear about the New Mexico republican state representative who has proposed legislation that would make women who get an abortion after being raped or becoming the victim of incest guilty of a felony count of destruction of evidence? Yeah, I'm not a fan either. Here's her contact information. Go wild: Brown, Cathrynn N. 1814 N. Guadalupe Street Carlsbad, NM 88220 cath@cathrynnbrown.com (575) 302-2746
The Republicans have a survey available with questions and answers regarding how I as an individual sees the Republican Party, thus, hoping to change their image and "better meet the needs of the American People." A noble effort one might say.  As a former Republican now Independent I figured why not, after all my background included developing surveys for gathering statistics on human behavior and spending habits of out of state verses in state hunter while I was at the University of Wyoming.  So I understand these types of surveys very well.
Â
What struck me about the survey was the childish non-scientific approach to gathering demographic statistics in order to set a base line of respondents. I was asked a very 1950s question, "What religion do I belong to."  Who cares?  I don't have a religion and neither do many others.  Anyway, age and racial background were questions asked but nothing about income or education or occupation, the latter variables being fundamental requirements for base building a baseline statistical database. Well, from this survey alone, the party has a long ways to go since it is so are so far to the right that scientific ignorance prevails to the level of that of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. My message was simple, "Wake up Republican Party, like Nazis did during their rise to power in Germany, you weeded out Republicans that made any sense so you could consolidate power into the hands of the narrow minded right wing, i.e. moderates like myself who you call RINO because they do not adhere to the extreme right wing views of today's Republican Party.Â
Â
I wish them well, the party has a long ways to go before I ever return.
I have no sympathy for the Republicans. This was their election to lose, and they lost it handily. Possibly, if they tried to actually do their jobs instead of using all their energy to see to it that Pres. Obama was a one term president, they might have convinced people to vote for them. I don't think they lost the election because they oppose abortion, or gun control, or any other hot button issue. I believe they lost because the people who vote are sick to death of listening to their hate messages.
Â
 They should have tried harder to tell us what was right with the country, and what they would do to make it better, instead of pushing their doom and gloom agenda.  Their whole convention platform was based on hate and negative issues. They acted like hateful, arrogant and bitter old white guys. Generally people have enough depressing things to worry about in their lives, they want a president who makes them feel good about themselves and their country. Let's face it, the majority of people vote with their emotions instead of with their knowledge of the issues and most people agree that 'mean people suck'.
Gov. Jindal is half right, the way the GOP talks is completely NURRHURRDERP. The crux of the problem, however, is that no matter how they paint it, the current party policy is wildly out of touch with modern mainstream America. Guys like Todd Akin and John Koster may have jammed their tootsies in their yappers and alienated huge swaths of electorate with their comments, but what they were saying falls in line with the official GOP platform. They simply forgot to censor themselves.
Â
Now, if the GOP sincerely wants to connect with people and win over moderates and minorities, a good starting place would be to stop pandering to the extremists on the fringe and crafting policy to suit them. Don't just talk a moderate game, actually run it. Because guess what? The wingnuts are still going to vote R (unless they splinter off altogether, in which case good riddance), and you might just have a shot at winning over the swing voters who aren't interested in turning the country into a theocratic kingdom of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich.
Maybe when he means being the stupid party he means stop alienating gays, women, and people of color and trying to force religion down everyone's throats. Being anti science is a sure way of being labeled as stupid as well.
The GOP leadership might start connecting by not talking about it being a "game". For the rest of the Americans it is reality not a game at all. These words were spoken by a smart man----GOP must stop being the Stupid Party
and out pops Gingrich with his statement that Republicans wasted two years of our time and money not doing anything because OBama would be out and then they would go to work.   lolol Nice to hear the confirmation of what they made so obvious. Oh please will someone start by voting the "old guard" out of the office.............the GOP needs to join the real world of today.
"Losing is not fun. We want to win,"
Â
Then stop with the obstructionist ways and start representing the people!
I tell you what governor, How about let's fire the entire bunch regardless of party and elect people that are representative of the people that put them in office. Then condemn party politics and charge any representative that would take influence money with treason and trial with GREATÂ prejudice with no appeals.
Â
This country is ran by barristers and bankers that would just love to push the Constitution aside.
They've sought out the stupid, the ignorant, and the extremists for years. If they want their reps and party faithful to suddenly be smart they should, maybe, talk to the dog whisperer, or maybe a circus trainer. But then, it's kind of tough to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. I think this situation falls under absurd.
Republican or Democrat, the globalists win. Toss in a few hot button social issues like abortion and gay marriage and you can actually make it look like there is a huge difference between the two.Â
 @Dredd57 Guns, don't forget guns. Hot, hot, HOT.
Republicans are addicted to being the stupid party that's their base- the rich (who want to keep people stupid) and the uneducated/misinformed (the stupid people that think republicans have their backs). Their ideals do not appeal to smart people, therefore they pander to the stupid by saying stupid things. George W is a great example of stupidity in action. I'd say 'was' but i'm certain he has remained stupid.
 @ballardanian Every castle needs it's dumb as rocks serfs.
 @ballardanian So if an administration just happened to keep a bunch of policies from a "stupid" president like George W. Bush, that would make that administration the "administration of stupid" correct?
 @Dredd57  @ballardanian Totally stupid.
When he said "stop being the stupid party," I was wondering which one he was talking about. They're both equally idiotic, argue like little children, squander BILLIONS of dollars while protecting what is THEIRS, and do not represent the American People at all any more. Both major "parties" are "the stupid party."
If you cannot discern the political, economic, and social ideal differences between the parties you should not be allowed to vote and you certainly should not become a political representative. I form strong opinions based on understanding each angle. The "stupid party" are the blatantly ignorant people who alienate those with opinions different from their own. Exhibit A - Female family member posted on FB Nov 6: Don't bother arguing cuz I'm entitled to my opinion, if you vote for Romney you hate women!
You said it not me !
I always say this " This Republican Party is the most stupid one I have ever seen".
The worst part is they have way too many big mouths and don't know what they talking about
and when they are talking.......wrong words coming out !
They might try developing some integrity and standing up for their values, instead of just trying to spin everything to what they think people want to hear. Why not work for what is best for the people, instead of what will keep them in office longest?
"stop being the stupid party"
It may be a symptom of an untreatable disease, much like spending is to the democrats.
Either way left or right we are screwed.