…so I was proud to see him giving the Republican response last night. His remarks were brief, competent, and unremarkable — in other words, they were exactly like every Republican response I’ve ever seen given to any Democrat address. There’s something about the format — short, prepackaged, artificial — that sucks the life and energy out of even the best speakers. No one will ever look good in a format like this, that immediately follows a president who has just spoken before a live audience for an hour or so.

I attended one of Dr. Boustany’s town hall meetings in Lafayette a few weeks ago, and he came off far better than he did in last night’s remarks. When speaking to his constituents, he was friendly, energized, and passionate, and very honest with us.

Charles Boustany has not been a high-profile congressman, but he has been fighting hard against ObamaCare and is one of the truly good guys in the House, and I’m proud to have him representing me. He has even been a recent guest of RedState. Unlike the slicker man to whom he responded tonight, Dr. Boustany has had a long and distinguished private-sector career doing work that has actually helped a great many people. Unlike the slicker man to whom he responded tonight, Dr. Boustany is a genuine and decent human being.