CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As Republicans gather in Charlotte to take stock of their party's brand this week, one of their potential standard-bearers is advising them to turn their attention away from an "obsession with government bookkeeping" in Washington D.C.

"Today’s conservatism is completely wrapped up in solving the hideous mess that is the federal budget, the burgeoning deficits, the mammoth federal debt, the shortfall in our entitlement programs,"  Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will say at tonight's keynote dinner at the Republican National Committee's Winter Meeting, according to an advance copy of remarks obtained by NBC News.

"We as Republicans have to accept that government number crunching – even conservative number crunching – is not the answer to our nation’s problems,” he will say.

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Jindal, frequently discussed as a possible 2016 presidential nominee for the GOP, will make the argument that Republican concern about constraining a bulging federal government -- signified to their base by President Barack Obama -- misses the point of growing the economy outside the Beltway.

"The Republican Party must become the party of growth, the party of a prosperous future that is based in our economic growth and opportunity that is based in every community in this great country and that is not based in Washington, DC," he will say.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana addresses activists from America's political right at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in this file photo.

The Louisiana governor's remarks come as Republicans in Congress have been struggling to out-manuever Obama on tactical measures related to spending, taxes and the debt ceiling. While the party has extracted some concessions from the White House as a result of the wrangling, consultants and elected officials alike fret that a focus on fighting the president looks more like stubborn obstruction than conservative valor to a weary public.

Jindal -- who is Indian-American, Catholic and just 41 years old -- has gained national fame in part by defying stereotypes about how a southern Republican governor looks and sounds. The party's efforts to expand its appeal beyond white men and the south top the Charlotte agenda.

Jindal is expected to speak tonight at around 7 p.m. ET. 

Updated 3:15 pm: Twitter has a way of really highlighting the comity in Washington.

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), upset with Harry Reid saying Hurricane Katrina was "nothing in comparison" to Hurricane Sandy and the devastation caused to the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area, lashed out on the social network calling the Senate majority leader an "idiot."

"Sadly, Harry Reid has again revealed himself to be an idiot, this time gravely insulting Gulf Coast residents," Vitter Tweeted, linking to a story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Vitter later also released a statement with the same language and adding, "Both Katrina and Sandy were horribly destructive storms that caused real human misery.  And by most any measure, Katrina was our worst natural disaster in history. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused 1,833 deaths and over $108 billion in damage. Hurricane Sandy has caused 131 deaths and $65 billion in damage."

On Friday, Reid said the following on the floor, urging passage of Sandy funding:

"I really do believe it is important that I have the record reflect the reason we have gotten as far as we have on Sandy is because of the senior Senator from New York. It is too bad that it has taken so long. When we had that devastation from Katrina, we were there within days taking care of Mississippi, Alabama, and especially Louisiana--within days. We are now past 2 months with the people of New York and New Jersey.

"The people of New Orleans and that area, they were hurt but nothing in comparison to what happened to the people in New York and New Jersey. Almost 1 million people have lost their homes; 1 million people lost their homes. That is homes, that is not people in those homes. So I think it is just unfortunate that we do not have the relief for New York and New Jersey and the rest already. It has to be done. We have to meet the needs of the American people when an act of God occurs."

The Times-Pic writes:

"Sandy devastated some of the nation's most populated areas, but it didn't come close to Katrina. Hurricane Katrina, and the flooding that followed when federally built levees failed, killing  1,833 and causing more than $145 billion in damage. Sandy has been blamed for 120 deaths and over $80 billion in damage."

Monday afternoon, Reid released a statement saying he "misspoke" on Friday:

"In my recent comments criticizing House Republicans for threatening to betray Congress' tradition of providing aid to disaster victims in a timely fashion regardless of region, I simply misspoke. I am proud to have been an advocate for disaster victims in the face of Republican foot-dragging, from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Sandy, from fires in the west to tornadoes in the Midwest. I have worked hard with Senator Landrieu to ensure that the people of the Gulf Coast have the resources they need to fully recover, and I will continue to advocate on their behalf until the region is fully recovered."

The House passed a $9.7 billion Sandy recovery aid package Friday, which the Senate took up and passed by unanimous consent. The House is expected to take up another $51 billion aid package as a result of Sandy Jan. 15th, after it returns from recess.

Pool / Getty Images

President Barack Obama returns to the White House on August 29, 2012 in Washington, D.C. Obama continued to campaign for his re-election on the second and last day of his college tour through Iowa and Virginia.

President Obama will visit Louisiana on Monday to meet with officials and view the damage from Hurricane Isaac, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced Friday.

Carney said the president will go to assess the impact of the hurricane, which has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, and make sure “that unmet needs are being met and that the federal response led by FEMA is helping.”

Obama will stop in Louisiana after beginning his day in Toledo, Ohio where he’ll hold a campaign event.

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He was scheduled to campaign in Cleveland after his event in Toledo but Carney said changes to the campaign schedule were still pending.

Obama’s Republican opponent in the presidential race, Mitt Romney, is visiting the storm-stricken parts of the state today. 

BATON ROUGE, LA -– Mitt Romney’s campaign is tamping down speculation that a decision has been reached on a running mate, after a report today that the former Massachusetts Governor had made up his mind.

Eric Ferhnstrom, a top Romney aide, told reporters today “no decision has been made” on vice president. Ferhnstrom told the AP separately a decision could be reached this week.

The remarks occurred during a lunchtime fundraiser here in Baton Rouge, where Romney was joined by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a buzzed-about Republican whom some consider to be on Romney’s shortlist.

This morning, the New York Times reported that people close to Romney say a decision had been made.  The report also speculated about how former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may appeal to Romney.

But today’s fundraiser, at the City Club of Baton Rouge, marked Jindal’s debut at Romney’s side.  In remarks to guests, Jindal called President Obama “incompetent,” and described Obama’s politics as too liberal for the American people.

“This president, President Obama, he cannot run on his record, he can’t run on his political philosophy so he has to attack and distort Governor Romney’s record,” Jindal said, referring to what he described as the Obama campaign’s negative tactics.

Last week, the Romney campaign fielded attacks from the Obama team over questions about when Romney left the helm of the venture capital firm Bain Capital, kickstarting new discussions about venture capitalism, and the financial economy.

“I am thrilled he’s a successful businessman. You don’t want an unsuccessful businessman in the White House,” Jindal said.

About 40 donors attended today’s luncheon, at $50,000 a plate.  Guests ate Louisiana gulf shrimp and beef tenderloin. 

One guest, Andie Bollinger of Thibodaux, LA, later told reporters that Governor Romney told guests privately about his plans for a Romney presidency, though she didn’t elaborate.

“He’s a brilliant man,” Bollinger said of Romney.

Jindal, who supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry during the Republican primary, has recently become a more visible surrogate for Romney’s campaign, deploying sharp attacks on President Obama and defending conservative issues.

This weekend, Jindal addressed the Nebraska GOP convention, where he touted Gov. Romney’s business background and was met with applause when he said the U.S. Supreme Court made an “awful choice” upholding President Obama’s health care law.

Today Romney and Jindal arrived for the fundraiser only minutes apart, and about half an hour early.  Fehrnstrom said the two men met privately and spoke about education -- a focus for Jindal here in Louisiana -- but didn't discuss the vice presidency.

SHREVEPORT, LA -- Mitt Romney said Friday afternoon that President Barack Obama should “apologize” to the American people for policies that the Republican presidential hopeful says have created “deficits that are too large” and “jobs that are too few.”

The remarks, delivered at the foot of a natural gas rig in northern Louisiana one day before this state’s primary, took the president to task over delaying construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada through the United States into Texas.

Thursday, Obama said he would speed permitting for construction of the southern half of the pipeline.

“This week he’s been taking credit for the lower half of the Keystone Pipeline being built.  If I’m president, we’ll get the upper half built,” Romney said amid applause.

The Friday event was held in an area that has seen a flurry of natural gas exploration of the so-called Haynesville Shale, which runs underneath northwestern Louisiana and east Texas.

The setting seemed chosen at least in part to answer Obama’s own two-day tour this week of key swing states where the president defended his administration’s energy policies amid rising gasoline prices.

“I’m reminded of another tour he took at the beginning of his administration.  Remember, he went around the Middle East and apologized for America,” Romney said, referring to a series of trips during 2009 that included a speech in Cairo that drew criticism from conservative corners of the foreign policy world.

“I think he’s got his tours backward,” Romney continued. “On his tour of the states here, where he’s been taking credit, he should have apologized for his policies.”

The event also marked the second time in one day that Romney addressed the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, a story that has ignited a national discussion about race and gun laws.

Calling Martin’s death a “terrible tragedy,” Romney told reporters here in Shreveport that it was appropriate for the district attorney to have called a grand jury investigation into the Feb. 26 shooting in Sanford, Florida.

The shooter, an armed neighborhood watchman, has not been arrested. 

“Our hearts go out to his family, his loved ones, his friends,” Romney said about Martin's death. “This shouldn't have happened.”

In a written statement, Romney earlier called for an investigation into the shooting.

Romney’s statements came on the same day that Obama made his first comments on the case. Speaking to reporters from the White House Rose Garden during his announcement of a nominee for president of the World Bank, Obama said, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

PORT FOURCHON, LA -- Newt Gingrich said while he believes President Obama is a Christian, the president conducts himself in a way that would fuel suspicions that he is a Muslim.

Asked by a reporter following a speech on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast Friday if it concerns him so many people in the country believe Obama is Muslim, Gingrich said it was the president’s problem.

"It should bother the president. Why does the president behave the way that people would think that [he is a Muslim]?” Gingrich said. ”You have to ask why would they believe that? It's not because they're stupid. It's because they watch the kind of things I just described to you.”

The former House speaker had already told reporters at the Port Fourchon Operations Center he finds it “very bizarre that he is desperately concerned to apologize to Muslim religious fanatics” and is at war with the Catholic Church.

Gingrich did note this afternoon: “I have said publicly several times that I believe Obama is a Christian. He went to a Christian church for over 20 years. He was listening to the sermons.”

Earlier this week in Lake Charles, LA, the Speaker passed on the opportunity to correct a man who told the crowd Obama is a Muslim even though later that day he told a reporter he does believe Obama to be Christian.

But today’s comments on Obama’s faith also come just a day after Gingrich referenced “Obama’s Muslim friends” on a radio program.

Gingrich was asked on “Sandy Rios In the Morning radio show” about the press going over the details of Mormonism – Mitt Romney’s faith.

“First, look you need to understand the elite media is in the tank for Obama. They’re going to do anything that helps re-elect Obama. They’re totally committed to Obama. It is just astonishing to me how pro-Obama they are,” he responded. “You think you’re going to see two pages on Obama’s Muslim friends? Or two pages on the degree to which Obama’s persistently apologizing to Islam while attacking the Catholic Church? Do you see anybody in the elite media prepared to see say, ‘Gee, you know this is kind of odd that we really worry a lot about the Quran and nothing about the Bible?”

Republican presidential candidate and former Senator Rick Santorum holds up an Etch-a-sketch while addressing supporters at a "Get Out The Vote" rally in Mandeville, La., March 21, 2012.

ARBUTUS, MD -- Mitt Romney said he plans to run on the same issues in the general election as he has in the primary in response to a top aide's comment likening Romney's pivot to the general election to an Etch A Sketch.

Romney acted to hastily control the damage resulting from comments by adviser Eric Fehrnstrom on CNN, which prompted a day's worth of attacks from Democrats, as well as Romney's Republican rivals.

Romney told reporters following his lone event today that while his campaign will change organization, the issues on which he'll run "will be exactly the same."

"I'm running as a conservative Republican," he said. "I'll be running as a conservative Republican nominee."

The comments gave Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich a new weapon to use against Romney, figuratively and literally illustrating their case that the former Massachusetts governor is only a conservative of political convenience.

The two men, who lag behind Romney in the delegate count, jumped at the opportunity to attack Romney after a senior adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, this morning compared moving into the general election campaign to the children’s toy this morning, saying, “you can kind of shake it up and restart all of over again.”

Both Gingrich and Santorum brought small Etch A Sketch toys to their afternoon events in the state of Louisiana. 

“We're not looking for someone who's the Etch A Sketch candidate,” Santorum said after pulling out the toy during his event in Mandeville. “We're looking for someone who writes what they believe in in stone and stands true to what they say."

Santorum even told the crowd it was “the first of what I’m going to now call my ‘Etch A Sketch Tour of America.'"

“Given everybody's fears about Gov. Romney's flip flops, to have his communications director say publicly to all of us, if we're dumb enough to nominate him we should expect by the acceptance speech he'll move back to the left, triggers everything we should worry about,” Gingrich said as he began his town hall in Lake Charles, where he appeared holding the toy. "I think having an Etch A Sketch as your campaign model, raises every doubt about where we're going."

The former House speaker handed the popular childhood toy to a little girl sitting in the front row of the Harlequin Steaks and Seafood restaurant and joked, “You can now be a presidential candidate.” (Gingrich went on and autographed the toy for her after the event.)

Santorum said he purchased his Etch A Sketch at a Toys R Us store “down the way” while the Gingrich campaign simply said they bought the “Cars” themed toy today.

But the two candidates themselves were not alone in their purchases.

More than 2,000 miles away outside Romney's Arbutus event, Santorum’s press secretary was passing out mini Etch A Sketches in the parking lot.

Holding the one remaining toy she had yet to distribute, Alice Stewart told reporters this “gaffe” from a top Romney advisor “confirms what a lot of conservative have been afraid of.”

“The campaign acknowledged that his [Romney’s] conservative credentials can come and go with the climate, just like an Etch A Sketch, and we can’t have that,” Stewart said.

Romney had initially refused to address Fehrnstrom’s Etch A Sketch comments while asked several times on the ropeline following his event in Maryland.

“I’m not doing a press conference right now, OK?” Romney told reporters.

One group that does seem happy with all the buzz of the children’s toy today is the Ohio Art Company, the Etch A Sketch manufacturer.

"Happy to see Etch A Sketch, an American classic toy, is DRAWING attention with political candidates as a cultural icon and important piece of our society," said Nicole Gresh, spokeswoman for the manufacturer. "A profound toy, highly recognized and loved by all, is now SHAKING up the national debate. Nothing is as quintessentially American as Etch A Sketch and a good old fashion political debate.”

Alex Moe reported from Lake Charles, LA. Jamie Novogrod reported from Mandeville, LA.