RSS Feed MenuThe RNC committee members are meeting to decide the next party chair – and the best choice would be Michael Steele.
First, the selection of Steele would be a decisive step in the right direction toward addressing the diversity deficit the GOP faces. Selecting Steele would not solve that gap, but it would offer undeniable evidence that the party understands the problem and intends to take proactive steps to address it. This is not just cosmetic – it is a matter of political survival in the increasingly diverse America of the 21st Century, and a matter of reconnecting to the founding principles of the Party of Lincoln.
Second, Michael Steele has proven himself to be a powerful and engaging advocate of a modern Republican Party. A frequent commentator on Fox News and other outlets, Steele can make the case for a forward-looking GOP in a way that people will want to listen. He is an able persuader who can command attention, a conservative who can connect with voters across the center-right spectrum, a rising star in a party with too few. The job of the RNC chair – being the forward-looking face and voice for the party – is perfectly suited to Michael Steele’s strengths.
Third, Steele won statewide office in Democratic Maryland as Lt. Governor alongside Bob Ehrlich. They were a popular problem-solving team who knew how to appeal across party lines, reconnecting with centrists and independents. They made fiscal responsibility, education, health and the environment, public safety, and commerce the “five pillars” of their administration. They knew how to make government work on a local level – and such statewide efforts will be the route to Republican’s resurgence in the future as it has been in the past. The fact that Ehrlich lost re-election, despite approval ratings reaching 60%, had much more to do with the misfortune of running against the Bush-DeLay backlash of 2006 – a dynamic which also denied Steele the distinction of being the first African-American Republican Senator since Ed Brooke.
Other candidates, like South Carolina’s Katon Dawson, have able records at party rebuilding and increasing diversity recruitment. Ohio’s former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell may draw some votes for diversity away from Steele, but he has proven to be a far more polarizing figure. Steele can preside over a team of rivals, and advance the ideas of thought-leaders like Newt Gingrich. Michael Steele might be considered a long-shot by some party elders, but they should listen to younger voters and make a decision for the future – electing Michael Steele would provide an immediate and overnight shot in the arm for the Republican Party. No other candidate would come close.
Chekote // Jan 30, 2009 at 1:19 pm
HBill, right on comrade.
Chekote // Jan 30, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Seriously now, the “whites only” club is a PR catastrophy for the GOP.
Chekote // Jan 30, 2009 at 1:33 pm
The fifth round: Steele 79, Dawson 69, Anuzis 20.
HollywoodBill // Jan 30, 2009 at 1:38 pm
And my main man, Chekote, Anuzis has just withdrawn. We’re on to the Sixth Ballot! Dawson belonged to that Whites Only Coutry Club for 15 years! If he wins, the press is going to have a field day with it.
Chekote // Jan 30, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Anuzis drops out
Chekote // Jan 30, 2009 at 1:43 pm
HBill, The fact that Dawson is even competitive shows you just how much work there is to do in the GOP.
Chekote // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:05 pm
STEELE WON!!!!! The GOP is turning a corner. Finally!
suey // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Steele it is. Congratulations on electing what seems a good moderate man.
HollywoodBill // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Chekote–the amount of work is unbelievable. But Steele is a good start.
buzzricksons // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Middle12; I should’ve been more explicit. The majority class of 94 got elected overwhelmingly, and was popular for the first while (i.e. before Newt’s head and ego exploded – which he details well in “Lessons Learned”) based on their offering a rational, sharply distinct from the Dems, policy platform. They beat the pants off the Dems with policy, not the partisan “personal destruction” nonsense; in fact, that’s the game perfected by the guy in the White House at the time. When they got baited into playing on that turf, it was game over because Bill was always the master. If they’re smart enough to regroup around policy, they’ll deserve to win again. If they remain mired in social-identity politics and the like, they should be shopping for outdoor gear to brace for a long time in the wilderness.
ireign // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Congrats Michael Steele!
I did want to address Chekote’s posts. I would suspect that there are problem numerous country clubs in South Carolina that are all white or just have a few African-American members. That is function of who has money and power in much of today’s society and how segregated the elite are in our country. In the exclusive New York City suburbs, I caddied at a country club when I was younger that was predominately Jewish and I was aware of very few Christian members and I don’t remember anyone of a different race. Mayor Bloomberg was a member. I don’t think him being a member made him a racist or anti-Christian just as I don’t think Dawson is necessarily a racist. He might be a racist who knew of the club’s policy or might be a nice guy who genuinely did not think twice about the policy.
This blog commenters seem to be composed disproportionately of those who seem to want to avoid attacking any Democrat but are more than happy to assume that a Republican is a racist. You are correct electing Dawson would have been a bad PR move. But that doesn’t make it right.
Many of the commenters on this blog are just as intolerant as those they criticize i.e. the religious right.
ireign // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Once again, I thought NONE OF THE ABOVE would have been the proper outcome for today but Steele is probably the best of the bunch notwithstanding his penchant for putting his foot in his mouth.
buzzricksons // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:31 pm
How long before someone at MSNBC or another such network says the RNC had to put Steele up because they needed a black guy to go against Obama? And how many crickets will chirp while the world waits for the racemongers of the left to condemn the remark?
Chekote // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:33 pm
ireign. I don’t think that I am or have been intolerant. I was simply referring to the PR nightmare and the fact that Dawson reiforced every negative sterotype of Republicans. Talk about playing into the enemy’s hand!!!!! I couldn’t care less what club he belonged to.
ireign // Jan 30, 2009 at 2:52 pm
That’s a fair point. Although Bloomberg and many other politicians have dealt with a similar issue and I think many on the right were making a mountain out of a molehill.
My comment, “Many of the commenters on this blog are just as intolerant as those they criticize i.e. the religious right” was not directed at anyone in particular but was something I felt reading a good number of blog comments.
Buzz is correct that Steele has his own pr issues. But hopfeully he and others will go to mat and effectively end this cry of tokenism that the left is likely to make.
suey // Jan 30, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I don’t think the left is the demon you suppose. The right called Obama the
“affirmative action” candidate but this was mainly the wing nut side of the spectrum. Some at the left side of Daily Kos may joke in response to what was said about Obama but anyone with any position will not. Expect a call of congratulations to Steele from Obama about now.. Ring…Ring
fact based // Feb 1, 2009 at 7:55 am
While speaking to the Baltimore Jewish Council, Michael Steele compared doctors conducting stem cell research to Nazis performing human experiments during the Holocaust: “You of all folks know what happens when people decide to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool.” [Associated Press, 2/10/06]
InTheMiddle12 // Feb 3, 2009 at 4:04 pm
BUZZ: OK. I guess I take it as elementary that politicians should advocate policy. American people care about policies, not politics, though the words are rooted in the same root, so to speak. The GOP either lost touch with their policies or didn’t execute them. At this point I can’t tell you what the GOP policies are other than attempting to balance the President’s economic policy. I think the GOP would be smart to wait 6 months before beginning to shape any policies to see what they’re reacting to. They are not in power, under any stretch of the imagination. But they should be doing a lot of reflecting on what it means to be in the GOP. It’ll be interesting to see what Steele does with this. No doubt he’ll be looking to Cameron over in the UK who took the Conservatives to the middle and is making a big come back