address and that he's honored to be delivering the Republican response immediately following the president's speech.
"Here in Louisiana, we have first-hand experience with reforming government and cutting taxes to stimulate our economy in uncertain times. This is a terrific opportunity to talk about our great state to the nation."
But Democrats say the problem is the message, not the messenger.
"It doesn't matter if it's Gov. Jindal or Gov. Palin or Mitch McConnell," said Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis. "At the end of the day, the policies they support are not the policies the American people support."
Obama is expected to focus on the economic crisis and the $787 billion stimulus bill among other issues during his first congressional address, and Jindal will likely rebut with a push for fiscal responsibility, Kofinis said.
"He'll probably flash back to the past, talking about fiscal responsibility and ignoring the fact that over the last eight years the Republicans have been the poster child for fiscal irresponsibility," he said.
The governor has been a vocal conservative critic of the stimulus package, highlighting what he considers waste at a White House meeting with governors on Monday. Jindal spoke to a large group of reporters after the session Monday, noting items such as $1 billion in added spending for the national census and $50 million in federal spending for the arts.
It's "not apparent to me why they had to be in the stimulus package," said Jindal, while adding that his fellow Republican governors nevertheless wanted to give Obama "every opportunity" to succeed in sparking an economic recovery.
Jindal has announced plans to reject $100 million of stimulus funding for his state, saying it would require Louisiana to change its unemployment laws. Several other governors have expressed similar concerns.
Jindal made history in 2007 when, at 36, he was elected the nation's first Indian-American governor and the youngest in...