Filé gumbo: Conn. GOP courts Jindal

Let the gamesmanship begin.

The Connecticut GOP has put out not-so-subtle feelers with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal about visiting the Constitution State in the wake of the Republican’s very public dust-up with his Democratic counterpart Dannel P. Malloy outside the White House on Monday, Hearst Connecticut Newspapers has learned.

“Some of the most dynamic leaders in the Republican Party are governors,” Jerry Labriola Jr., chairman of the state Republican Party, told Hearst.

Following a meeting between members of the National Governors Association and President Barack Obama, Jindal publicly denounced the administration’s handling of the economy, saying it had waved the “white flag” while promoting minimum wage increases instead of more fruitful initiatives such as the Keystone pipeline project.

Standing at the side of Jindal, who is widely known to have White House aspirations, Malloy stepped up to the microphone for an impromptu rebuttal that has gone viral and made him a hero with liberals around the nation. Malloy called Jindal’s “white flag” comment partisan and insane.

Jindal returned to the microphone, determined to get the last word.

If Connecticut Republicans get their way, Jindal would have a microphone all to himself in Malloy’s home state.

Malloy’s political opponents are searching for what amounts to an understudy for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who some Republicans tried to recruit as an anti-Malloy surrogate in this all-important mid-term election year. Their enthusiasm for a Christie has waned dramatically since the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, however.

Is Jindal that understudy?

Malloy has had his share of run-ins with GOP counterparts, from Jindal and Christie to Rick Perry, who Malloy, in a bit of gamesmanship, personally greeted when Perry came to the state last year to try to poach businesses from Connecticut.

Neil Vigdor