Palin gets the press, but...

Jindal steals the show, I think.

Watch the video footage of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, and I think you'll see that, while Palin gave a great speech, Jindal had the meat-and-potatoes portion of the event.

I loved how he used the positive aspects of conservative government in LA and how it was WORKING to bring jobs, prosperity and new residents to LA, and how he was going to continue to fight against the implementation of Obama's liberal agenda in his State.

I'm also impressed that he would go so far as to openly state that he WAS NOT running for President in '12. Sure, he can change his mind, but that move gives him a degree to freedom that other potential candidates aren't going to have. While Palin, Pawlenty, Romney, et al, will have to make ever step and every word something special without forcing contradictions or errors... Jindal can speak his mind as he works through the remainder of his term and continues to provide a success story for conservative leaders.

Jindal is in a good place right now, and he needs to make that point every chance he can. With LA standing damn-near alone as a State that can show positive growth in a national economy that continues to fall in nearly every category, he has the ability to dictate the terms of any discussion or debate on policy that comes along... be it on job creation, tax incentives for small business, corporate tax brackets, infrastructure, and even environmentalism and energy production... he has the State that conservatives can point to and say "See? Our ideas work!"

There aren't even many GOP Governors that can say that. Pawlenty has a mediocre record (at best) when it comes to budgets and spending during his years in St Paul, MN, and other new-comers like Crist in FL, Christie in NJ and McDonnell in VA are facing up-hill battles that may or may-not prove the conservative point. To put someone in Jindal's league, you have to look at the more established governors like Barbour in MS and Hoeven in ND who have records rivaling Jindal's with twice his time in office.

I was disappointed in Perry's comments (R-TX). Yes, he was accurate in his assessment of Obama's agenda and its inevitable conclusion, but his is the point of view that will allow the Dems and liberals to point to the GOP as a party of NO, rather than a party of CAN DO. Conservatives want action and direction, and I think moderates and independents will respond to that, too... once they see the policies of "hope and change" fail over and over again between now and 2012. Standing in front of a camera or a crowd and reiterating the obvious over and over again doesn't get us any closer to getting back into a position of power in this government. We must show measurable, tangible results to conservative action, be they contemporary or historical, and we can't keep expecting the voting public to simply "take our word for it".

One of the focus points of the SRLC was whether or not the GOP was a party of "Yes we can" or "No you can't". Jindal made the point that it is wrong for the GOP and conservatives everywhere to ignore the bad ideas and policies coming from Obama and the Left... but that isn't being done, isn't it? I don't think the GOP has lost its ability to voice opposition to the liberal agendas of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid... but I do think we need to rediscover the ability to give alternative plans and ideas in ways that appeal to the average voter. Opposition to an incumbent can get you elected, but it can't keep you in power... a lesson Obama is learning damn fast, I think. Pelosi's majority in the House and Reid's majority in the Senate stemmed from an ability to sell themselves as "alternative" means to a prosperous end, and Obama went a long way towards winning the White House by making the case that he wasn't Bush... but we all understand that their cases have no weight, and won't sustain the momentum even through the mid-terms.

Well, it's refreshing to see the coverage of events such as the SRLC on mainstream media outlets, and if you add this event to the CPAC of recent months and future forums and gatherings where potential candidates and sitting incumbents can voice conservative ideas, we can see a growing awareness of the conservative message across the nation. This is good, and this is directly attributable to the Tea Party movement. Average people forcing the message into the lime-light, so much so that even liberal pundits who cover the message only to discredit it are actually doing us a favor.

Imagine that... Maddow and Olbermann actually helping the conservative cause by allowing their ideas and opinion to be contrasted to what we know to be the mainstream, center-right position of the majority of America. That tickles, doesn't it?