Rowdy Repubs At SRLC Buoy GOP 2010 Hopes

Jillian Bandes | April 09, 2010 11:52 AM

News of Bart Stupak's resignation buoyed ambitions at the SRLC here in Louisiana. Watching vulnerable Dems bow out has become a spectator sport for Republican politicos, adding to their twenty-point "

enthusiasm" advantage in terms of enthusiasm for voting in the 2010 mid-term elections. And the 2010 mid-term elections is what SRLC is all about.

Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Perry are today's big draws. Look for Palin to bee even more elusive about her 2012 intentions — as Ed Morrissey at our sister publication, Hot Air, points out, she has shown more interest in activism and in expanding her media reach than launching a presidential bid. But if we're lucky, she'll open up a little bit today.

Palin is probably more at home at the Tea Party Convention or the Conservative Political Action Conference, but that doesn't mean SRLC won't provide her with a wide base of support. There are more establishment politicos here than rank-and-file tea partiers, but they'll still back her up when given the chance. If Palin doesn't break any news about her 2012 intentions, the focus will be on the quality and delivery of her speech.

I'm also paying attention to Jindal, a razor-smart and highly respectable politician who doomed his career giving a lackluster rebuttal to Obama's first State of the Union address. In speeches since then, he's redeemed himself, but this hometown keynote is will still be a crucial test before the oratorically-challenged governor. His 2012 intentions don't seem to be gaining as much steam as someone like Rick Perry or Tim Pawlenty, but that doesn't mean he isn't well suited for another position in GOP leadership.