It only took a few hours before Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo was using C-Span footage of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy calling Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s comments about raising the minimum wage “insane” in a fundraising email.
“You have to watch this,” DiNardo wrote in the email. “Governor Malloy couldn’t stand listening to Governor Jindal’s outrageous GOP rhetoric at a non-partisan press conference for the National Governor’s Association.”
The fundraising email asks for $4 or $44 and goes on say “Jindal claimed that raising the minimum wage is like waving a white flag of surrender. What did our governor do? He stepped up to the microphones and said ‘that’s the most insane thing I’ve ever heard.’”
At the press conference following a weekend of meetings with the nation’s governors and the Obama administration, Jindal, who has been mentioned as a presidential contender, said the president “seems to be waving the white flag of surrender” on the economy by focusing on raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10, up from $7.25. “The Obama economy is now the minimum wage economy. I think we can do better than that,” Jindal said.
That’s when Malloy stepped in and took over the microphone.
“Wait a second, until a few moments ago we were going down a pretty cooperative road,” Malloy said. “So let me just say that we don’t all agree that moving Canadian oil through the United States is necessarily the best thing for the United States economy.”
Malloy said Jindal’s “white flag statement” was the most partisan statement he heard over the past weekend and he believes many governors support a minimum wage increase.
“What the heck was a reference to white flag when it comes to people making $404 a week?” Malloy said. “I mean, that’s the most insane statement I’ve ever heard.”
As if it was a school yard brawl, Jindal did not back down. He said if that was the most partisan statement Malloy has heard all weekend then he wants to make sure Malloy hears an even more partisan statements.
“I think we could also grow the economy more if we delay more of these Obamacare mandates,” Jindal said as Malloy walked away.
Prior to the press conference, the White House released a transcript of remarks Obama made to the group in closing the three-day conference.
“I’m committed to making sure that every single member of my Cabinet, every single person in the White House, every single member of my team will be responsive to you,” Obama told the governors. “We won’t agree on every single issue every single time, but I guarantee you that we will work as hard as we can to make sure that you succeed — because when you succeed, the people in your states succeed and America succeeds, and that’s our goal.”
But Obama acknowledged that partisanship and politics is just below the surface.
“I enjoyed watching some of you with your eyes on higher office size up the drapes — (laughter) — and each other,” Obama told the group of governors.
