CNN Profiles Bobby Jindal; Pegs GOP Youth Vote Hopes on Him

Tomorrow, President Obama will give a major speech in which he will roll out his budget, and discuss the economic crisis and health care reform. The GOP has tapped Louisiana Governor (and 2012 Presidential candidate) Bobby Jindal to deliver their response. In preparation for that, CNN is running a fairly large profile of the governor in which many GOP reps acknowledge Republican failure to connect to young voters, and pin their party's future hopes on Jindal:

The GOP, still reeling from election beatings in 2006 and 2008, is looking to revamp itself by rebuilding from the states up and reaching out to young voters. At 37, the popular Louisiana governor embodies that mission, experts say.

"The job is very important in framing the Republican message really for the rest of the year," said Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association, referring to the response speech Tuesday. "Gov. Jindal provides the outside-the-beltway, not D.C., perspective. And he's one of the smartest policy minds in the country. He's not perceived as a overtly political person."

Being tapped for this prime-time speech, a job normally for congressional leaders, has helped to elevate Jindal's standing in the party dominated by old pros, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner, as well as personalities, such as Alaska's Sarah Palin and California's Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"It's time for another generation to come into play," said GOP strategist Ed Rollins, a CNN contributor. "A lot of Republicans came of age under Reagan, which was 25 years ago … and we just haven't built on that with young people."

Rollins, a veteran of the Reagan White House, called Jindal, a first-generation American born to Punjabi parents, a "young dynamic governor" with "appeal to younger voters."

The governor is a "textbook Republican" who is "scary smart," Cross added.

And, having an accomplished minority figure represent your party's message doesn't hurt, he said.

"The Republican Party very strongly wants to have a new look," he said. "They're saying, 'We're not just a party of old white guys' and he's part of that appeal."

As I've written before, Bobby Jindal certainly gets young Republicans fired up and ready to go, but I'm not sure he can cross-over and pull independents back to the GOP. It certainly doesn't help when Jindal, purely out of ideological and cynical political motives, is refusing millions of dollars of stimulus money that could help out poor, struggling families in his state.

I'm looking forward to seeing polls tracking how Jindal plays with young voters on a national level. My bet is that he doesn't do nearly as well as many conservatives are hoping he will.