"We've got to stop being the stupid party," said Louisiana's Republican Governor Bobby Jindal to a GOP audience. "We must stop being the stupid party. It's time for a new Republican party that talks like adults. It's time for us to articulate our plans and visions for America in real terms. We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. We've had enough of that."
When Bobby Jindal tells you stop being stupid and tone-deaf, you've got problems.
Jindal was the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention's winter meeting on Thursday.
"Gov. Bobby Jindal held little back with his sharp words to Republicans Thursday evening, urging his own party to rethink their arguments against Democrats and appeals to voters in his remarks to party members attending the Republican National Committee's Winter Meeting," writes CNN.
He had a litany of vague prescriptions for his ailing party.
"We as Republicans have to accept that government number crunching - even conservative number crunching -- is not the answer to our nation's problems."
"We must compete for every single vote: the 47 percent and the 53 percent and any other combination of numbers that adds up to 100 percent."
"The first step in getting the voters to like you is to demonstrate that you like them."
Reactions from the conservative crowd were mixed. "Jindal's speech -- which at 25 minutes was one and half times longer than Obama's address -- appeared to be coolly received by the Republican Party establishment, not least because of his rapid-fire speaking style and the band warming up in the next ballroom over," writes BuzzFeed.
Most pundits believe Jindal is preparing for a presidential run in 2016, but he's off to a bad start.
"The speech was an attempt to paint Jindal as a serious contender for 2016 following his widely-mocked response to Obama's first address to Congress in 2009 -- an effort that largely failed," says Buzzfeed. "His delivery, speedy and robotic, didn't allow for applause or crowd reaction, and many simply zoned it out."