BECAUSE THIS WORKED SO WELL FOR JOHN McCAIN

Here's Politico's Ben Smith on the rebuttal Bobby Jindal is going to give to President Obama's speech tonight:

Jindal accuses Obama of pessimism

The early excerpts of Bobby Jindal's response to Obama's State of the Union are largely standard fare, but the conclusion strikes an interesting note -- one hinted at recently by Bill Clinton -- accusing the president, basically, of pessimism.

A few weeks ago, the President warned that our nation is facing a crisis that he said ‘we may not be able to reverse.’ Our troubles are real, to be sure. But don’t let anyone tell you that we cannot recover - or that America’s best days are behind her.

Wow, smooth move, Bobby -- accusing Obama of insufficient Pollyannaism in the middle of a massive global financial meltdown. Wasn't that John McCain's brilliant strategy in the fall?

During a campaign stop today in Orlando, FL, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attempted to defend his repeated claims that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong" by redefining those fundamentals as "workers and small businesses." "The American worker and their innovation and their entrepreneurship, the small business, those are the fundamentals of America and I think they’re strong," he said....

Worked like a charm, didn't it?