We love Republican governors at TAPPED, or at least love to keep an eye on them, since they are more than likely to be the foundation for the GOP to rebuild its electoral reputation. And they have been busy lately.
- Lousiana's Bobby Jindal will give the Republican response to the president's address to Congress.
- Utah's Jon Huntsman came out in support of civil unions, an unpopular position in his state but one that will play well with moderates should he have the chance to run for a certain national office in 2012.
- Four Republican governors -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlie Crist, Jim Douglas and Jodi Rell -- signed on in support of the Obama administration's economic stimulus legislation. The decisions come mainly for the simple reason that "governors, unlike members of Congress, have to balance their budgets each year," and these four (and apparently others who have been more quiet about their support) want to ensure that their states receive fiscal aid to meet budget shortfalls. Of course, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is already calling out Crist: “I don’t think that a lot of people down here would call him a fiscal conservative."
In general, the Republican governors have taken a very different approach to their out-years then the congressional wing of the party, often seeking (or being forced into) more centrist or pragmatic positions. Jindal's speech next Tuesday promises to be very interesting -- will he adopt the more agressive rhetoric of the House Republicans who have been doing their best to fill the vacuum of power at the top of the party, or will he follow the more pragmatic line his fellow governors and some in the Senate have drawn? Though reports indicate that Jindal won't be in the running in 2012, his approach to his first debate with Obama -- and that is what the two speeches come down to -- will be revealing of how at least he and his advisers view the political climate.
-- Tim Fernholz
