Last week the Republican Governor’s Association held their audition for 2012 annual conference, reviewed by both Byron York and Stephen Hayes. While every other aspect of the government is in transition, now is a good time for the Republican Party to be as well. That’s why the RGA conference came at a good time, and helped jumpstart the many, many conversations aboot where our party is going.

Then in January, it’s time to get back to work with a new RNC chair (God willing, Michael Steele), new House Leadership (::cough::paulryan::cough::), and as silly as I think it is to be talking aboot it this early, new Presidential candidates (which is where Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee come in). There’s also the afore mentioned governors to look at. You may or may not have heard of Sarah Palin. You will be hearing a lot from Tim Pawlenty, especially with the Minnesota Senate debacle recount. Though the one I’d keep the closest eye on is Bobby Jindal, a Rhodes Scholar and the thirty-eight year old Governor of Louisiana.

He was on “Face the Nation” yesterday, and in diagnosing the problems facing the GOP, he had this to say…

“We have got to be the party that offers real solutions to the problems that American voters, American families are worried about. We don’t need to abandon our conservative principles; we can’t just be the ‘party of no.’ We need to offer real solutions on making health care more affordable, on the economic challenges facing families, on the international threats.”

Normally when I hear people say that, my initial reaction is, “No shit, real solutions? Next you’re going to tell me we need to stop the out of control spending too.” What makes Jindal different from the other 217 people making similar statements is that, as Governor, he’s backing it up. Health care is a good example of this, which he’s been working on reforming in Louisiana for twelve years now. It’s for him what energy policy is to Sarah Palin. Or, to quote Newt:

“If you want to understand healthcare, you can do a lot worse than to bring in Bobby Jindal who may well know more about health policy than any other elected official in America and is doing an extraordinary job in Louisiana.”

Gov. Jindal is making his first trip to Iowa later this month, and as we all know, the only reason to ever go to Iowa is because you’re thinking of running for President. Personally, I don’t see him running, or at least “actually” running. He might tease it just to increase his national stature, but in 2012 he’ll just be finishing up his first term as Governor and will only be forty-two. It’s not like he’s in a rush, and if Obama’s first term is successful, it might make more sense to wait until 2016.

However, I have to admit, a Gingrich/Jindal or Romney/Jindal ticket definitely piques my curiosity.