Jindal: Louisiana up, Washington down

In a new ideas piece for Politico, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal catches us up on what he's been doing in Louisiana; then reminds us what of Democrats have been doing in Washington.

The answer: Louisiana's navigating the stormy current, and DC is the storm.

He takes on the two, hottest issues of the day: cap-and-trade and health care.

As for the first, he wonders why America would want to embrace a policy just "so former Vice President Al Gore can be happy."

Then there's health care, where he lays out the familiar case against a plan integrating a public option, and concludes it's "a radical restructuring of health care in America".

So now's a good time to integrate the Politico piece with Chris Cillizza's morning Fix on the rising fortunes of Bobby Jindal. Whether by attrition or his own political ambition, Jindal is primed to reappear as a national political figure.

Curt Anderson, a consultant to Bobby Jindal, says it's neither attrition nor political ambition, but instead, righteous indignation that's raising Jindal's national voice.

"Governor Jindal has seen enough. As a health-care policy expert, he strongly believes that the House Democrat[ic] plan would be a disaster for the long-term health of the American people, and the long-term health of the economy."

All of this suggests we'll be seeing more of the party's rising star, who fell a little bit, but not as badly as Satan in Paradise Lost.