Having won a contested fight for RNC chairman, Michael Steele has almost immediately come under fire. He has not yet solved the party’s financial difficulties or restored order to a malfunctioning RNC. And it’s been two whole weeks!
But here’s one thing he has done: He has presented a warm and welcoming new face for Republicans on national television.
Steele has been criticized for excessive candor, for acknowledging the GOP’s troubles and promising a “12 step” recovery program. As the British Conservatives showed, however, parties that wish to recover must find ways to signal to the public: We got your message – and we are listening. That’s the gist of Steele’s interviews, and it is the right gist: Message received, correction to follow.
We need this man. He offers real hope for positive and effective improvement in conservative and Republican standing. We need this man!
20 responses so far
1 nolan084 // Mar 9, 2009 at 12:11 am
The British Tories are done. Their versions of David Brooks and David Frum allowed them to ‘compromise’ enough with the Labour Party (and by ‘compromise’, I mean shifting drastically to the Left without much resistance) to the point where the Tories became European Socialism-Lite. Why? Because their David Brooks and David Frums told their Party that the electorate would be put off by ‘not working with the Labour Party’ and ‘not offering new ideas to solve healthcare’. It’s a shame. Luckily for the British with money, they had our healthcare system as a backup plan.
2 mlindroo // Mar 9, 2009 at 1:02 am
Let’s take one specific example: opinion polls show even younger REPUBLICANS nowadays are vastly less hostile toy rights than older social conservatives are. Do you still think GOP leaders should continue to stress e.g. their total opposition toy marriage despite this?
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It seems to me that a party which does not evolve at all is doomed to become irrelevant. American views on e.g. racial integration were vastly different fifty years ago than they were today — just read the National Review for example!
MARCU$
3 Churl // Mar 9, 2009 at 2:16 am
Attention passengers of the Titanic, Captain Smith speaking. As you may be aware, we’ve had a mixup with a chunk of ice in the sea. Bit of a bother that. As the officers and crew ruminate over our next steps, I am pleased to announce the appointment of a new Entertainments Director. His name is Michael Steele and you will be seeing his warm and welcoming visage in the vicinity of the dance floors and shuffleboard courts. Good day to all.
4 Stewardship // Mar 9, 2009 at 5:28 am
Chairman Steele needs to answer several questions. What issues and positions are important to young voters (who voted Dem by a 2-to-1 margin)? Same for voters in the northeast, Rocky Mountains, the Pacific coast, the mid-Atlantic. Then, he needs to craft conservative solutions to those issues and build a team at RNC that can communicate those solutions over all of the ambient “noise” coming from the fringe.
5 Top Dog // Mar 9, 2009 at 5:48 am
I think Frum has an uphill battle ahead of him. The minute a Republican politician embraces a centerist policy that Frum endorses, Limbaugh will slam the pol, discredit and marginalise him or her with the base, and send a signal to other Republican pols not to mess with big papa. And you’ll see a very destructive cycle that will continue until Obama f-s up on a massive scale, and the Republicans can get in on anti-Obama sentiment. Or if Obama is successful it will continue until Hilary wins the nomination in 2016 and succeeds Obama, which will be enough to unite the right-wing without divisive policy debates.
6 bobk // Mar 9, 2009 at 8:52 am
Sadly, the problem isn’t that the Right lacks a good face to represent it. The problem is that the people of the United States have slipped so far in their personal integrity that they don’t want to hear a responsible message from ANYBODY. They don’t want to hear it when it comes to social issues, fiscal issues, foreign policy issues, whatever.
Finding a good leader for the not-so-good people of America will be a battle indeed. It is sad to think, but the problems in our land are not caused by politicians, but rather caused by the people as a whole.
Here’s to wishing Mr. Steele the best of luck.
7 Realist // Mar 9, 2009 at 9:37 am
bobk, the problem is that voters have lost faith with the GOP and rightly so. Just think about it: nary a Republican congressman or senator remains among blue states! How on earth can we even begin to turn the tide around without serious proposals on how to govern? We had our chance and blew it big time. And why? because we have fought against government for so long that we forgot how to manage it when we finally gained control. Hell, I could do Ron Paul’s job as part a time job: All I would have to do is simply mail in my “No” vote on every bill proposed. Just goes to show that the GOP has become bereft of ideas, and until we crawl out from under the meaty thumb of Rush Limbaugh, nobody will take us seriously for a long time to come.
8 bobk // Mar 9, 2009 at 9:58 am
Realist……In a left wing tradition, many people need to be the victim of someone. Many today claim conservatism has been victimized by Rush. While I’m not hardcore supporter, I do believe the guy is being demonized for saying some things that need to be said. Could he say them ‘kinder and gentler’? Sure, but they still need to be said. The scheme that will get the GOP back on top is unclear, but running to the middle is not it. What does it show about conservatives in general when the current cry is “how much should we give in to those who are wrong?”. Heck, to change a stance that quickly to kiss the asses of the masses of those who are astray is downright….uuummm…..Democrat.
9 A.B. // Mar 9, 2009 at 10:27 am
There has been some consciously cruel treatment of Mr. Steele, thanks to his willingness to extemporize in front of the cameras. And, while this little circus is playing out, his outgoing opposite number, Mr. Dean (and his entourage), are whining about being offered a rather nice job. Things could be worse, we could be democrats. Mr. Steele hasn’t been selected Pope, give him a chance to get his footing, folks.
10 bobk // Mar 9, 2009 at 10:31 am
Agreed.
11 sinz54 // Mar 9, 2009 at 10:44 am
bobk: A sure sign of a fringe movement is one that blames the American people for their failure to recognize how wonderful the fringe movement is. You are saying that the American people just don’t have “consciousness,” which is exactly what the Marxists on International ANSWER say too. For 230 years, the United States has done pretty well with the people it had. Let’s continue to trust their good common sense.
12 sinz54 // Mar 9, 2009 at 10:52 am
Obama is trying to do a lot of different things, many of which I disagree with. But one thing he’s trying to do that I believe is necessary, is to boost the U.S. economy out of this deep recession. I might be doing it a different way than he’s doing it. But I wish him well on it, and I sure hope he succeeds at it. If he fails, we could end up in a severe depression. Unlike Randians, I don’t think our economy is self-correcting. Nor can we afford to wait till 2013 for a new president.
13 bobk // Mar 9, 2009 at 11:46 am
“For 230 years, the United States has done pretty well with the people it had.”
Maybe. So maybe then too we need to chalk a lot of that up to a century or so of slavery…a good 180 years without women’s lib…no public arena for the fruitcakes…and a country where men were responsible for households and not relegated to being sperm donors that sat in front of SportCenter or Oprah. Maybe it’s just that for a few decades, Americans have been liberally instructed to not be responsible. Who knows. But I would hate to categorize today’s American ‘adult’ with any group in the bulk of that 230 years. Want to see the American economy saved? Teach Americans to be 1/4 as responsible as those who lived through the Great Depression, yet still managed to retire and live. Show your kids that a new HDTV isn’t necessary(if you can’t afford it). Buy nothing with a credit card. Tighten the belt even when it there’s plenty out there that you want, and someone (banks/taxpayers) willing to buy it for you. This is a separate point though. The original idea was the backing of Mr. Steele, and I wish him the very best.
14 TimisKim // Mar 9, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Well, I was a little worried about Steele with his comments on CNN. Even if someone thinks it is okay to say that Rush’s show is ugly, etc., he really shouldn’t have agreed that the Republican National Convention literally looked like Nazi Germany. But, I hadn’t decided whether I thought he should stay as chairman of the RNC or not.
Well, now I know my answer. If David Frum says we need Steele, then he has to go. Frum seems to think that traditional conservatives are divisive and leading the party in the wrong direction. If he wants to see someone trying to lead the party in the wrong direction, alll he has to do is look in the mirror.
15 JennQPublic // Mar 9, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I supported Michael Steele’s candidacy for RNC Chair, but thus far he has most certainly NOT “presented a warm and welcoming new face” for *all* Republicans. Calling the embrace of civil unions by the GOP “crazy” is hardly welcoming to the millions of Republicans who favor civil unions. Steele seems to be confusing his personal values with those of Republican voters. Social conservatives are a significant voice in the GOP, but they are not the be all and end all. Republican does not equal social con, and until Steele recognizes that he will continue to disappoint.
16 sinz54 // Mar 10, 2009 at 7:21 am
Go Dog Go: Give Steele a chance. He’s brand new on the job, and he’s still trying to find his feet. He’s got a real problem in balancing the needs of presenting a softer, more inclusive image of the GOP, with the hard-right of the blogosphere and talk-radio who believe that ideological purity to win votes in the little remaining huddle of Red States, is more important than winning national elections.
17 petty boozshwa // Mar 10, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I wish I shared your enthusiasm for Steele, but so far he has appeared to be in the Miers, Palin, Vitter, Frist mold – someone with glittering attributes at first blush but quickly turns out to be a wet paper bag. If he couldn’t man up in his confrontation with Rush he should probably consider retiring to spend more time with his family. If I could promote one person as the future face/voice of our party I’d like to nominate Amy Holmes. She’s bright, young, articulate — but probably a squish RINO to too many at the RNC.
18 choccity2005 // Mar 15, 2009 at 11:08 am
petty boozshwa:There is a point you are missing drastically.Steele is no republican hack.He didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.He won a sizeable amount of the black vote vs ben cardin.Why….b/c he presented his message,and related it to them and they found it something to vote for.He has debated sharpton,smiley,cornell west…not in some rich country club but in harlem,NY.THE ONLY REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE CONSERVATIVE(republican party).
19 choccity2005 // Mar 15, 2009 at 11:40 am
Ask them if they are pro-life…the majority will say yes.
Ask them if they want to pay higher cigarette taxes,soda taxes,More taxes in general….the majority will say NO.
Ask them if they believe thier teenage daughter should have abortions without them knowing…the majority will say NO!
Ask them if they are opposed to gay marriage…the majrity will say yes.(as prop 8 in california showed)
ask them if they believe in GOD….overwhelming majority will say yes.
YET…..90 percent,90 percent,90 percent (i wrote it 3 times so you can get a grasp of that)
Of BLACK AMERICANS VOTE DEMOCRATS.
So the problem is not the message…….IT’S THE MESSENGERS.
Hence the reason…..michael steele,can help save this party.
20 choccity2005 // Mar 15, 2009 at 11:41 am
Black americans do not hear the republican,conservative message and after george bush republicanism has been set back 20 years maybe.The farther a face we get from bush the better and steele is it.
Ask a black person if they care about offshore drilling….they may not know what it is,ask them if they want cheaper gas prices and they’ll say yes.
Ask them if they want vouchers……they may not know what it is,ask them if they want to be able to take thier child out of the destitute public schools into a private one and they will tell you of course.
ASk thm about social security private accounts…..they may not know what it is.Ask them if they would want to control thier social security tax money.By getting payments if a family member died,and have that money to bury them,go to school,buy a house.which doesn’t happen with the current system….when explained they will say yes,b/c most blacks don’t even live to see 65.
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