Jindal to GOP: 'Season for Navel Gazing Has Passed'

Republicans should stop worrying about what they did wrong in the elections of 2012 and work on getting out a positive message for the future, says Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"Yes, we just lost our second straight presidential election to Barack Obama. Yes, losing is painful and has consequences," he wrote on Politico. "Yes, when you lose, you make adjustments. Enough already. Let’s get on with it."

The party isn't lacking for constructive solutions, says the potential 2016 presidential candidate.

"I’ve offered a list of seven ideas for change, former Gov. Jeb Bush has offered substantive thoughts, as have Sens. [Marco] Rubio, [Ron] Johnson, [Rand] Paul, and others," he writes.

"But excessive navel gazing leads to paralysis… No more self-analysis; we’ve had our catharsis. The season for navel gazing has passed."

Jindal doesn't like the conventional wisdom about the need for Republicans to temper their conservatism.

"Republican political correctness is all the rage, and it’s all roughly the same," he says.

According to Jindal, the flawed dogma includes such assertions as:
• "We need to stop being conservative.
• "We need to abandon our principles (at least the ones that don’t poll well).
• "We need to let the smart guys in Washington pick our candidates.
• "We need big data and analytics so we can optimize
• "We need to be more libertarian.
• "We need to endorse abortion … and the list goes on."

Republicans should be focusing on the bright side, such as the party's 30 governors and the fact that it took control of the House in 2010 and held it in 2012, Jindal says.

"How about we take all of this energy being spent on autopsies and focus it on painting a picture for the American public, particularly for young people, of what a free and prosperous American future will look like with smart conservative policies," he writes.

At some point the left wing will implode on its own ideas. Jindal says. That's because it wants "the government to explode, to pay everyone, to hire everyone," he states.

"They believe … debts don’t have to be repaid; people of faith are ignorant and uneducated; unborn babies don’t matter; pornography is fine; traditional marriage is discriminatory; 32-ounce sodas are evil; red meat should be rationed; rich people are evil unless they are from Hollywood or are liberal Democrats."

To be sure, conservatives have some work to do on the economic side. A Gallup poll conducted May 2-7 shows that 41 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative on economic issues, the lowest since Obama took office in 2009 and down from 46 percent a year ago.