[StBernard] La. governor to give GOP response to Obama speech

[Westley Annis]

La. governor to give GOP response to Obama speech
By MELINDA DESLATTE - 1 hour ago 

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will get another
prominent GOP role later this month when he delivers the national Republican
response to President Barack Obama's first speech to Congress.

Obama plans to speak to a joint session of the House and Senate on Feb. 24
about the problems facing the nation. The speech will be similar to a State
of the Union address.

Jindal will give the Republican response in a nationally televised address
from Baton Rouge immediately after Obama's speech, U.S. House and Senate
Republican leaders announced Wednesday.

"Gov. Jindal embodies what I have long said: The Republican Party must not
be simply the party of 'opposition,' but the party of better solutions,"
House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement. "His
stewardship of the state of Louisiana, dedication to reforming government
and commitment to bringing forth new and innovative ideas make him a leader
not just within the Republican Party, but in our nation as a whole."

Jindal wasn't immediately available for comment Wednesday.

The 37-year-old governor, who took office last year, has become increasingly
prominent in a Republican Party struggling to reshape itself after a string
of losses in the White House and Congress.

Jindal, the Oxford-educated son of Indian immigrants, regularly is mentioned
as a potential 2012 or 2016 presidential contender, though he insists he is
running for a second term in 2011 and has no plans to run for president.

As he raises money for his re-election bid, however, Jindal has traveled the
country, including recent visits to Florida, North Carolina, Arkansas and
Iowa - a state that would be key to a presidential campaign.

He has also gained attention on the national news circuit, where he has been
repeatedly interviewed about what he calls the Republican Party's need to
rework its message and return to its roots, and he is often cited by GOP
leaders as the future of the party.