Bobby Jindal bounced back this morning from a generally-panned performance to an energetic performance on Today. He gives Meredith Viera a slew of specifics, arguing with more intensity about the pitfalls of Porkulus:

I didn’t think he did that bad of a job last night, but this certainly seems more assertive and less “robotic”, as many critics concluded about his performance last night. Michael Kraskin at AOL says the expectations are out of line:

The President, Bush or Obama, arrives behind Washington luminaries like the Supreme Court justices and cabinet members. The applause goes on for upwards of 10 minutes. Then they get to deliver a speech in which nearly every sentence gets a reaction from thousand or so assembled audience members. There are cheers, there is anger. Every person in the room is keenly aware that they could be on camera. …

Then, abruptly, cut to the response. The pascal lamb chosen to deliver the opposition response is alone in a mansion. What could be more alienating to the American people?

He or she speaks directly to the camera. There is no chance to make eye contact with a real person. There are no applause, there is no booing. The only people in the room are instructed to stay as quiet as humanly possible. If there are journalists, they are likely projecting an air of skepticism, or even worse, neutrality.

I have a solution for next year’s SOTU speech. Rent a hall and have the speaker ready to deliver his or her remarks to a room full of voters. Frankly, I’m surprised no one has thought to this already.

Update: Sound off about Jindal’s performance last night in our Hot Seat poll: