RUSH: A lot of people are saying, ‘Rush, why are you so hot on Bobby Jindal?’ We have two sound bites. He was on with Cavuto yesterday. Here’s the first of the two sound bites.
CAVUTO: Governor, Rush Limbaugh’s a very big fan of yours. He says you’re like a Ronald Reagan. Now, he was not a fan of John McCain’s. So it’s kind of like a weird juxtaposition for conservatives to be in saying that a conservative like yourself has to be on the McCain ticket or they might think less of that ticket. Do you think that’s true?
JINDAL: When the choice comes down to Senator McCain versus Senator Obama, I think the choice is pretty clear. I’ve not always agreed with all the stands that Senator McCain has taken. But I do think that he’s become a reformer when it comes to going after earmarks and wasteful spending; I think he’s the better of the two candidates to defend our country; he’s always been strong on national security. I think it will be a pretty clear contrast. I think Senator Obama represents the very liberal side of his party.
RUSH: Now, the next bite you’re going to hear more of Bobby Jindal talking about what he believes, rather than praising Senator McCain. This will give you some idea why I like him. We had an interview with him in the Limbaugh Letter. He was just fabulous and the way he’s turned the state of Louisiana around is superb, too. But listen to this.
JINDAL: The reason the Republican Party is in such trouble is that the party’s gotten away from spending discipline. It has started to make excuses for corruption when it would never have done that if the people being accused were on the other side. It’s gotten way from conservative principles. The party used to be the party of ideas. You remember in the nineties: Welfare reform was a Republican idea; cutting taxes, a Republican idea. We had real solutions to the energy crisis. We can’t just be a party that says, ‘We’re cheaper than the Democrats. We’re not as liberal as the Democrats.’ We can’t be a party that tries to win elections by promising earmarks. We gotta go back to being a party of principles. The reason I think we’re doing well in Louisiana is we’re doing what we promised the voters we would do. We’ve got the largest income tax cut coming up next week. We reformed our ethics laws, now among the best in the country. We’re attracting businesses. A Fortune 1000 company moved here; a Fortune 500 company is contemplating a multibillion-dollar investment.
RUSH: That’s Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, and he was like that throughout my interview with him in the Limbaugh Letter. This is one of the reasons I like him. I think I was among the first to mention his name as a potential vice presidential running mate for Senator McCain. But there’s credence to the thought, ‘No, save him. Don’t let him go down the tubes in this election. He’s 36. Let him really fix this state up and so forth.’ But he’s a great guy, and he’s so right on what’s wrong with the party.