Jindal Rebukes Huntsman: Forget Gay Marriage, Focus on the Economy

The Louisiana Republican downplays the importance of LGBT rights

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal largely ducked the debate around gay marriage that Jon Huntsman started when he told NBC Sunday that unlike Huntsman, he wants to uphold traditional marriage - and that what really matters for political success is the economy, anyway.

Raw Story reports that the Republican, in very politician-like fashion, deftly dodged the question of whether he agrees with Huntsman that conservatives should back same-sex marriage by switching gears to make the case for Republicans as the "aspirational party" with a vision for economic growth.

"Look, I believe in the traditional definition of marriage," stated Jindal before quickly moving the conversation in a different direction. "Let's be clear about what happened in this last election: we lost...because we didn't present a vision showing how we believe the entire economy can grow, how people can join the middle class."

But is an emphasis on fiscal issues to the exclusion of social ones a wise strategy? If the condition of the country's next wave of adults is any indication, then no. Despite their comparatively high unemployment rate and bleak economic prospects, young people consider lifestyle considerations such as gay acceptance to be a more important element of their political identity than any views they may hold on how to grow the economy.

Via Raw Story.

Do you agree with Jindal on the relative unimportance of LGBT issues?

[NormalFlora]

Since when are human rights a back-burner issue?

[PoliticalSpice]

To republicans, since Bush.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

What humans in this country don't have rights?

[kirbstomp1]

@PoliticalSpice - haha that made my day

[NTBFW]

I will tell you why. The country is spending cash like fools. The economy is shot. 20 some million people are unemployed. There are record numbers of people on welfare that don't want to be. We have a crime problem. We had an ambassador get murdered and the only real answer to who did it and why I " does it really matter? ". And you want to argue about whether gay people can get married? I don't care one way or another. I have no animosity toward LGBT. But they are getting on my damn nerves acting like they are being waterboarded because we have some serious thing happening and you can't get married is The MOST important problem the country has to deal with? Bull sh*t! You are going to be able to get married but right now we are busy. How bad do LGBT are you discriminated against? Are you suffering ? can you just live together a while? Until we get people working? Please! I am sympathetic to your problem. But it's not at the top of the list of problems this country has.

[Keyjo]

@PoliticalSpice
To Republicans since Reagan.

[Dan_Tien]

"Let's be clear about what happened in this last election: we lost...because we..." decided what the voters should care about, told them what the most important things to care about were, and didn't bother to listen to what the voters said was important to them.

[Knightkore]

Hmmm....sounds just like Presidet Hussein Obama and progressive liberals....they ran on fixing the economy and more jobs....and they insist on social change and more taxes and not cuts and where is the new batch of "shovel ready" jobs? We're all gonna need shovels because it's already getting deep....

[Speedieg]

I don't feel republicans can ignore this issue. The come off as ignorant and mean on the issue. The majority of Americans want to see all citizens treated fairly and the anti-gay establishment has not made a credible case to deny these rights and benefits to gays and lesbians.

[bsking]

Come on now some of the most mean and nasty people are the gays

[PoliticalSpice]

Republicans come off as ignorant and mean, because they are ignorant and mean. Remember those idiots shouting "let him die" when ron paul was asked what to do to an uninsured person who is brought to a hospital emergency room?

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@PoliticalSpice - Why is it almost more important for the people around a person to take care of a person instead of that person taking care of themselves? Why is it if I don't have any money to buy food I should demand you buy me food, instead of me getting a job so I can have the money to buy food? And why would you be the mean one for telling me no, but I'm not considered mean to myself for putting myself in that situation. This country has got to have a dialog on this.

[Speedieg]

@bsking name one known gay person that is mean and nasty. Which one advocates for the killing if people based in their orientation? Which one advocates for the elimination of rights for others? Which one compares their opponents to child molesters and other despicable people? Name names, not just your those gays.

[bsking]

@Speedieg Rachel madow is pretty nasty.

[ErnestPayne]

Equality is not part of the republican agenda. If you aren't rich enough to buy your government you don't matter.

[Real4WheelDrv]

You mean like that new PAC that lets you in on MEETINGS WITH THE PRESIDENT if you donate enough?

[harold_lloyd]

@Real4WheelDrv

The Pres learned his lesson from the conservative PACs, and he learned it well.

Please don't embarass yourself by pretending to be clueless about that.

[Real4WheelDrv]

@harold_lloyd Nowhere did I pretend that the conservatives don't do the exact same thing, I AM however going to laugh at the self righteousness (funny, thought only far righters acted that way, right?) of the left for doing something they find so abhorrent...and their only rationale is..."well they did it fiiirrrsssstttt!"...inste ad of coming out against it for EVERYONE.

[harold_lloyd]

@Real4WheelDrv

Sorry, I'm not buying the 'I'm not really a teabagger' thing, especially after reading your posting history.

Your grade-school response is a sign of teabagger intolerance.

When you find that your opponent is cheating, and you can't call the game because it isn't a game, what do you do?

[Arumizy]

Economy needs to be first, then we can worry about making a new set of rights expecially for the LGBT community.

[chodapp77510]

I see education should have been a priority. There will always be issues that you feel are more important than the rights of others. Shame on you.

[Libertyiskey]

One law that says gay have equal rights as straights and can have recognized marriages by the states (not by all churches) and receive the same types of benefits as straights is really that hard a thing to do? One law takes care of that and then more happy married couples spending their happy money. You can't pass laws to fix the economy, that's the reason our economy sucks in the first place.

[harold_lloyd]

The economy does need to be first, but we don't need a 'new set of rights' for anyone.

We just need to agree that who marries whom is a personal decision, and no place for government to intrude.

And then get back to balancing the budget.

[cpeter133]

I'm a gay man. I agree that the economy should be first. I also recognize that the government can multitask. Taking time to establish citizen equality will not take away from economic planning; the people involved with each aren't, for the most part, the same.

[DARSB]

The Governor is still beating the "messaging not message" explanation for the moribund nature of today's GOP. In fact, he's still repeating the emphasis on the economy that so spectacularly failed to win the White House last fall.

[dances-weebles]

remember the old time record players when they'd keep skipping? well, i think that the good governor is just like that and he has gotten his needle stuck in his crack.

[harold_lloyd]

Jindal, and several other Republican rising stars have a problem. They hitched their wagons to the tea party movement, thinking to ride a new wave of ideology to high office.

But the new wave turned out to be smaller and more transient than they had expected. So now there's a choice of doubling down, or rejecting the tea party.
But the tea party, while fading, is not gone, and still has some residual influence. Not enough to get them elected, but enough to keep them from being elected.

Kind of like the teabaggers in the house...

Jindal is trying to distract everyone from all the issues that show the teabagger/Foxhounds in the worst light.

Akin, Broun, and associates would be locked in a closet if he could arrange it.

Who knows if it will work.

[TheJimmy]

If gay marriage was such a pressing issue it would have been addressed and resolved 10, 20, or 30 years ago.

[bsking]

The only reason it's an issue now is because you have a President who was raised by gay... and the gay and lesbian lobby has successfully attached themselves to the coatails of the civil rights movement and have equalled their plight with that of black Americans in the south of yesteryear.

[AntiPorcheria]

So there are not enough politicians in Washington to be able to focus on more than ONE thing? Ok.

[Real4WheelDrv]

Given the perpetual stalemate Congress is in, there aren't enough there to focus on ONE THING period lol

[Fishbone345]

A Governor in a southern state took a Conservative POV. What a surprise!

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

Looked like an American point of view to me, but who am I anyway?

[AceLuby]

@Neo_NtheMatrix The minority.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@AceLuby - So minorities shouldn't have points of view then, huh? I'll be sure to forward this information to the millions of minorities in this country.

Btw, just between you an me, the minority you claim I'm a part of controls 30 governorships and a considerable majority of the U.S. House. Thanks for playing!

[PNWest]

@Neo_NtheMatrix The minority you represent lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 elections and only controls the House because of gerrymandering. In fact the minority you represent is in such sad shape that YOU Neo have threatened to leave the country. Thankfully you have rejected that silly idea as America needs opposing ideas.

[harold_lloyd]

It's not conservatism, it's teabagger suckup. Real conservatives wouldn't be blocking necessary govt action.

[albert]

Don't really know how to feel about anymore,Now we should know for a fact that the whole catholic church is involved in homosexualty in one way or another,at least half of the republican party is bysexual if not homosexual,maybe they have been telling the truth about being born that way and cannot help being that way.I have been hearing that one of the biggest critics of homosexuality in South Carolina is homosexual himself,go figure.

[Real4WheelDrv]

You can be against something even if it's a part of who you are. Doesn't make much SENSE is all. I'm on SSI/EBT at the moment, doesn't mean I support increasing it, or that I share the views of many conservatives here that think that people on some sort of welfare should just "get a job" as if they're gonna move to where I live and provide me transportation beyond city limits so I can LOOK for one..

[RoFroh]

Do have to admit relative to the economy, it's not an important issue at this time.....the economy affects every aspect of your life....but it is an issue to be dealt with in the future of the country

[harold_lloyd]

If you only focus on economic issues, to the exclusion of all other considerations, you get Todd Akin and Paul Broun and people of that sort.

The economy may be our biggest problem, but it isn't our only problem by a long shot.

We can't afford to elect any more people whose first loyalty is to their ideology, and not the welfare of the country.

[bsking]

The important thing is that he rebuked that dish rag Huntsman

[SouthernNdN]

Americans or more so the younger generations are more worried about fixing the social issues rather than the economical problems of this age. Mainly due to the fact no one over the age of 45 understands the meaning of compromise and therefore nothing is ever accomplished. Slap an age limit on serving the people and then let's get to work in fixing the economy!

[Keyjo]

Bobby, Bobby, Bobby.....I am disappointed in you! And I had such high hopes.

[Bambi]

Social issues don't put the beans on the table.

[whataGOVwehave]

We have bigger issues.....much bigger.

[Hireman]

I love how it's always a focus on the economy when you disagree on a social issue. But when you have to defend a social issue, say in his case if DOMA is overturned, that will take front stage. Can these guys stop being politicians for a day?

[Russell797]

All the issues are important. They are not mutually exclusive either, so take a stand based on what you think is the correct direction on each issue and let the political chips fall were they may.

[Sonny]

See all of that "talk" about the Republican party and their "new" focus on the issues. Was all a bunch of BS...They do the same old song & dance after each election defeat....Claim to be a "new Republican Party" and coming out with some new (or at least more evolved) ideas...Then you hear this guy. One of the so-called new type of Republicans---just saying the same old tired junk that the American People just continue to reject...I guess they are just destined to be the out of touch party, forever. And that's fine by me.