GOP's Bobby Jindal steps into spotlight

The Louisiana governor, a rising star in the party, has been chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's upcoming speech to Congress.

Published February 11, 2009 7:00PM (EST)

In two weeks, on Feb. 24th, President Obama will deliver his first address to Congress. It's not being called a State of the Union, officially, since he'll only have been in office for a month, but it's likely to have have a similar effect, so the Republicans need to have a response ready.

Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he's chosen the man who'll be tasked with delivering that response: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Jindal's a rising star in the GOP. Because of his ethnicity -- his parents are immigrants from India -- he's often been discussed as the Republicans' version of Obama. Now he gets to be Jim Webb too.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

MORE FROM Alex Koppelman


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