How Bad Was Jindal?

"Oh God."

That is what Chris Matthews was caught muttering when Bobby Jindal walked toward the cameras.

Not very professional.

But not very far off from what others--including many conservatives--are saying about the non-SOTU non-response by the governor of Louisiana.

Whatever Jindal had to say--and I'm glad his immigrant father saved enough money to pay for his delivery--he was so oddly paced and awkward that he created an indelible image--and not a flattering one for a rising Republican star.

Following a presidential address to Congress by speaking from an empty room almost guarantees that you'll fall flat. Tim Kaine was among the Democrats who belly-flopped in the Bush years. But Jindal risks becoming a punchline.

Many conservatives are cringing. Laura Ingraham, on her radio show, said Jindal gestured with only one hand and was "very off-putting . . . A wonderful human being, I like him very much, but he is a horrible speaker."

As for Matthews, Politico reported on his statement on "Hardball": "I was taken aback by that peculiar stagecraft, the walking from somewhere in the back of this narrow hall, this winding staircase looming there, the odd anti-bellum look of the scene. Was this some mimicking of a president walking along the state floor to the East Room?"

More on Obama's big speech in a moment, but let's take a look at the Bobby-bashing.

"The reviews were swift and scathing: Off-putting. Amateurish. Disastrous.

"And those were fellow Republicans reacting to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal," says the L.A. Times.

In the New Republic, Eve Fairbanks flashes back to her childhood: