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Bobby Jindal Wows Iowa Evangelicals
National Review ^ | 04/26/2015 | by BRENDAN BORDELON

Posted on 04/26/2015 7:00:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Bobby Jindal is barely breaking 2 percent in Iowa polls — but you’d never know it from the way he wowed the crowd at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition summit on Saturday. The Republican governor from Louisiana is one of nine presidential hopefuls speaking at the Des Moines-area confab, which gathers evangelical Christians together to judge the GOP candidates’ social conservative bona fides.

Freshman senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, the first candidates to speak, were both well received by the Iowan audience. Former Texas governor Rick Perry was next, though he didn’t exactly capture the same enthusiasm. But while the others spoke about lofty political ideals or the corruption and hypocrisy of Washington, Jindal brought to the stage a fast-talking, folksy, preacher-like quality that immediately resonated with the crowd.

“Our God is an awesome God, can I get an amen?!” he began, spreading his arms wide and striding away from the podium. “Amen!” the audience responded loudly. Veering away from policy specifics, Jindal instead spoke at length about his personal journey to Christ – thanking his high school friend for giving him his first Bible and describing the moment he came to Jesus during a choir performance at LSU. Moving seamlessly from soul-searching spirituality to tongue-in-cheek quips about himself and his family, the governor’s speech was interrupted more frequently by raucous laughter than applause.

Even after shifting from his own spiritual experience to the politics of religious liberty, Jindal kept the audience in rapt attention. “Here’s my message for Hollywood and the media elite,” he shouted, in the first standing ovation of the evening. “The United States of America did not create religious liberty. Religious liberty created the United States of America!”

In another winning line echoing a promise he made in a Thursday New York Times op-ed, Jindal promised evangelicals that – unlike in Indiana — he would not be swayed from his support of a new religious freedom law working its way through the Louisiana legislature.

“We saw corporate America team up with the radical left to come after our religious liberty rights,” he said, referring to Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s fight against gay rights groups after he signed a religious freedom law last month. “They might as well save their breath, because corporate America is not gonna bully the governor of Louisiana!”

The discrepancy between Jindal’s knockout performance and his dismal Iowa poll numbers is noteworthy, a sign that perhaps the Louisiana governor should invest more time in the state. Iowa City resident Patrick Nefzger, who called Jindal’s speech “wonderful,” had a straightforward answer when asked when asked why Jindal’s poll numbers didn’t reflect the strong response he received Saturday night. “That’s because they don’t know who he is,” he said simply.


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: bobbyjindal; evangelicals; iowa

1 posted on 04/26/2015 7:00:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I like Jindel. I think he’s a patriot, a fighter, moral and a good leader capable of making decisions....and he cares.


2 posted on 04/26/2015 7:06:04 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Sacajaweau

I agree. Bobby Jindal has always impressed me. I don’t think his public career will be over after his governorship. He has too much to offer.


3 posted on 04/26/2015 7:13:37 AM PDT by conservativejoy (We Can Elect Ted Cruz! Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God!)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Bobby Jindal says he’d ‘absolutely’ attend same-sex wedding”

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/25/politics/bobby-jindal-same-sex-marriage/


4 posted on 04/26/2015 7:32:22 AM PDT by Faith Presses On ("After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations...")
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To: Faith Presses On

Proving #3


5 posted on 04/26/2015 7:41:08 AM PDT by bigbob (The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. Abraham Lincoln)
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To: Sacajaweau

Jindal is also a Catholic!


6 posted on 04/26/2015 7:45:40 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Faith Presses On

Yet another one? Good Lord save us.


7 posted on 04/26/2015 8:03:34 AM PDT by CatherineofAragon ("This is a Laztatorship. You don't like it, get a day's rations and get out of this office.")
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To: CatherineofAragon

I favor a Cruz/Jindal ticket. The Libs can’t hit them with the usual “they’re dumb” mantra, so they’ll be forced to hit them with the “too Christian” tactic. That will backfire.


8 posted on 04/26/2015 9:01:04 AM PDT by cumbo78
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To: Faith Presses On

Here’s a good, short article on this subject, and one that reflects my viewpoint on the subject:

http://www.gotquestions.org/gay-wedding.html


9 posted on 04/26/2015 1:39:45 PM PDT by Catsrus
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To: Catsrus

That’s a good article; it went back and forth there for awhile, but I agree with the conclusion, or the conclusion before the final conclusion. :)

We are discouraged to hear Jindal would attend a gay wedding, though. He was (and still is I think) our favorite politician.


10 posted on 04/26/2015 5:38:04 PM PDT by mlizzy ("Tell your troubles to Jesus," my wisecracking father used to say, and now I do.......at adoration.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Were it not for Cruz I would favor Jindal over all the other candidates. But with Cruz running (and having declared first), I think all these other people are simply splintering the conservative vote.

Cruz was first; Cruz is solid; let's all unite behind Cruz!

11 posted on 04/26/2015 7:05:27 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (The "end of history" will be Worldwide Judaic Theocracy.)
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Jindal is also a Catholic!

We won't hold that against him!

But srsly, Cruz had already declared and he's almost everything we could want. Why are other conservatives still jumping in and splintering our vote?

12 posted on 04/26/2015 7:07:47 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (The "end of history" will be Worldwide Judaic Theocracy.)
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