By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal on Monday pressed for an increase in U.S. defense spending to 4 percent of GDP, distinguishing himself from rivals in the future nominating race with a hawkish tone on foreign policy.
The Louisiana governor, who is considering a run for the presidency, is trying to appeal to right-leaning conservatives in his party with an aggressive stance on foreign policy while distancing himself from Tea Party-affiliated candidates with more isolationist tendencies.
"Within the arena of national defense, the need now is for more funding, not less," Jindal said during remarks at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, setting a goal for defense spending to reach 4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
"We must undo the president's harmful spending cuts, and ensure that our fighting men and women always have the tools they need to succeed."
Jindal sits well behind other potential Republican candidates including Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and Texas Senator Ted Cruz in early polls. Both senators voted against a recent resolution to fund moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against Islamic State, which has beheaded U.S. and European hostages and seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.
Jindal acknowledged that Republicans in Congress had supported the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, and he criticized fellow members of his party, without naming names. He said they failed to lay out a "positive" vision that contrasts with President Barack Obama's and that of Democrats.
"The people in this country are hungry for a big change. There's a lot of frustration, not just inside the Republican Party, but also in the Democratic Party," Jindal said.
"They're very frustrated with the president. His policies haven't worked. But they've yet to hear a comprehensive alternative from the Republicans."
Jindal said Obama should not have ruled out sending ground troops to fight the Islamic State because such a public promise telegraphed Washington's limitations to its enemies.
The two-term governor said he would decide on whether to enter the Republican presidential nominating contest after the November midterm elections and the holiday period. He has painted himself as an ideas man and policy wonk ahead of the race, which is likely to kick off in the coming months.
Jindal knocked potential Democratic rival Vice President Joe Biden for making remarks that offended U.S. allies Turkey and the United Arab Emirates over the war in Syria.
He also had critical words for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state.
"If only he'd had the help of a wise steady hand, a policy expert in dealing with foreign affairs, he'd have come up with better answers," Jindal said of Obama, referring to foreign policy on Iran, Iraq, Russia, and China.
"But instead he just had Hillary Clinton."
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Caren Bohan and Steve Orlofsky)