Louisiana ? Widely panned for his national TV address, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal offered his first defense of the speech Monday, saying he sticks by the message, while acknowledging shortcomings in his delivery.

The 37-year-old governor, regularly touted as a presidential contender, said he outlined a critical philosophical distinction between the views of Democrats and Republicans as he gave the national GOP response to Obama’s first address to Congress last week.

Republican party leaders have touted the Oxford-educated Jindal, son of Indian immigrants, as the future of the GOP, generating lofty expectations for his debut national address. Jindal said he wrote the speech himself.

But the address has been the target of political commentators, comics and bloggers who called it amateurish and out of step with the American public. Some critiqued Jindal’s delivery as too “sing-songy,” and compared it with the late children’s television host Mister Rogers.