Jindal assails Obama health care, defends Romney in conference call

Mitt Romney might have been joking about accepting the role of “grandfather” of President Barack Obama’s health care law, but when asked about it today, Gov. Bobby Jindal wasn’t taking the bait, The Wall Street Journal reports. “I can’t speak to the governor’s sense of humor,” says Jindal, who spoke during a conference call organized by the Romney campaign, in which he primarily talked about Obama’s health care law and what a disaster it is. Romney “has consistently been against the national mandate,” Jindal says. “He has consistently said that what works in one state … may not necessarily be right for other states.” The Romney campaign is seeking to capitalize on a recent Congressional Budget Office report that shows nearly 6 million Americans—many of them in the middle class—will be subject to a tax penalty if they don’t obtain insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Jindal expressed little concern that the Romney campaign must get back on message after a number of tough days recently. “We want the American dream to be wide open and available to everyone,” Jindal says. “The American dream is not to be dependent on a government program. That’s a nightmare.” As for the state of the race for president, Jindal says the polls are still tight. “I’m not worried at all about the background noise,” he says. “I don’t think this election’s going to come down to who’s had a good day or a bad day or who looks good on TV or who speaks better.”