It remains to be seen but I’m willing to give him a chance. Personally I prefered Blackwell.
No, I think Steele’s 80/20 is right approach.
If he does what he says then he’s a conservative.
“Do you think the election of moderate Michael Steele to run the republican party is a move to kick the conservatives overboard?”
I like him, but my answer is YES.
I didn’t listen closely to his acceptance speech, but didn’t he say something about, or like; ...some people have to get on board, or else?
I do not. He is not lockstep on conservative issues, but he certainly holds many conservative views. The RNC chair needs to be someone who can build the organization, recruit candidates, and show some savvy to regain a place in the conversation. He is very impressive in interviews, I suspect he can bring some fresh ideas to the party in terms of recruiting and organization. We shall see.
By example, Howard Dean is not lockstep on liberal issues traditionally, but has served their party during a period of success. It is not his ideas, but rather his organization that did it.
Welcome to FR.
I think the election of Michale Steele advances moderation in the GOP.
Anybody thinks I’m a troll can kiss my white ass.
Welcome to Free Republic.
No.
U.S. Senatorial candidate Steele speaks at AMRs
By SIOBHAN PAGANELLI
Issue date: 3/16/06
Maryland Lieutenant Governor and Hopkins alumnus Michael Steele was brought to campus Wednesday by the JHU College Republicans as the first speaker of their newly developed Spring Capitol Symposium.
Steele, a native Washingtonian and self-proclaimed “Air Force brat,” remarked that “Hopkins is unique among universities” for the spirit of its people. After receiving “a hard wake-up call” when he was expelled at the end of his freshman year, Steele worked hard to re-enter the Hopkins community. Steele said, “Hopkins gave me a second chance, and I will forever be indebted to it, because it saw something in me that I hadn’t realized myself. It was my potential.”
After graduating from Hopkins with a degree in international relations in 1981, Steele entered an Augustinian monastery for three years before attending Georgetown Law Center. Having practiced law for a number of years, he went on to become the first black chairman of the Maryland Republican Party and, in 2002, Maryland’s first black lieutenant governor. He is currently running for the U.S. Senate.
In his open and informal speech, Steele challenged the audience — members of the College Republicans in particular — to engage differently than he did twenty-five years ago when he was on this campus. Noting many changes through the years, he urged them “to communicate a positive message of hope turned into action, because that’s the root of our party.” This idea of combating “the backstabbing, the rhetoric that’s all hyped up and produces no results” was Steele’s overarching message, and one which he sees as a discipline strongly lacking in politics today.
He said, “I’ve been a republican since I could first vote, which is unusual for an African-American teenager growing up in Washington, D.C. The reality for me was that democrats took me in because they felt sorry for me or wanted to convert me. I learned the art craft of politics from my opponents.”
A discussion of radicalism was also a major component of Steele’s speech, which he tied into his main idea of urging young republicans to “use a positive voice when all others are speaking negatively.” He connected the two by explaining his view that “radicalism isn’t protesting, sign-waving, or throwing bombs. It’s doing something.” Steele emphasized this by citing examples of the efforts made by those who brought about the end to slavery, achieved voting rights for women, and developed Affirmative Action.
Regarding his own campaign, Steele said, “I run because I feel I have something to give back, and something to say about that vision, about that hope, about the actions that we should be taking to empower people.”
In a post-speech question-and-answer session, Student Council President senior Atin Agarwal asked if race ought to matter in the Senate election. Steele responded that “it shouldn’t be a factor, but it’s an undercurrent, that’s just the nature of us. I think the testament is how you deal with it.”
Agarwal later noted. “It’s great and impressive that they [the College Republicans] got the Lieutenant Governor. He spoke very well.” However, Agarwal was “disappointed that there weren’t more people to see him.”
Freshman Jeremy Batoff, a member of the College Republicans, agreed, saying, “It’s kind of sad because he’s such an important speaker, especially to the Hopkins community. I don’t really think it matters what party it is — when an important alumni comes to the school, people should show respect and come hear what he has to say.”
College Republican’s President junior Jered Ede was, in fact, pleased with the turn out considering the difficult timing during midterms. Ede said, “This is a much better turnout than I was actually expecting.”
Though the crowd was on the smaller side, numbering roughly twenty-five, attendants actively participated in the question-and-answer session, keeping Steele occupied with their inquiries. This informal, debate-style symposium was exactly was Ede has in mind when he began envisioning the idea in 2004. “[The Capitol Symposium] is designed to address the topic of why the speaker is a republican, and what defines that.”
The events, which will continue throughout the spring, are open to audiences of all political orientations. Ede said, “I told my friend to bring all his democrat friends. It’s more entertaining that way.”
Today, Steele credits Hopkins for his success under its tough-love approach, saying that he remembers “the Dean telling [him] that this is an institution where, when you arrive here, they’re not about babying you — they’re about making you a man, or a woman, or a professional...It is one of those places that holds a special place in my heart.”
Well done.
Is there some plot to smear Steele as a moderate. Can anyone find a citation claiming Steele was the moderate before he was elected? Before the election, he was the "evil conservative."
“Do you think the election of moderate Michael Steele to run the republican party is a move to kick the conservatives overboard?”
YES!
That is why the REPUBLICANS are the STUPID PARTY!
He’s another COLIN POWELL.
He’s another J.C. WATTS.
BOTH were put in there because of their COLOR
and beimg MODERATE.
It didn’t work.
If being a MODERATE worked then McPain in the arse would be our President. He’s a BIG TIME “MODERATE”.
Good post.
Don;t let the RHINOS bother you.
They have NO conservative values or beliefs.
All the do is BRAY when someone who is a conservative is upset with more liberal hijacking of the GOP. Steele is another RHINO who is BLACK. You’d think that after COLIN POWELL and J.C.WATTS the GOP would wise up - it’s not about COLOR. It’s all about IDEOLOGY and Steele is a RHINO like McPain. It won’t work. People like myself are FED UP with this HORSE CRAP.
I guess I’m glad I turned in my GOP Membership after this last election. My nose STILL HURTS from holding it HARD ENOUGH TO BE able to vote for Palin and WHATSHISNAME!
Another newbie using the screen name buzz words like life, taxes, conservative.
Ho hum.
Can't have Costello upstaging Abbot, now can they.
I'm out. Sarah was the twilights last gleaming. It's gonna be a cold one for a few years.
Where do you get the moderate label for Michael Steele? If it is from the article, give the rest of us with brains a chance.
Pushing conservatives out is a RAT mantra which is not happening. Reaching out to other groups — he is right on. Reagan had coalitions to win elections and that’s what we need.
Don’t care what the ideology if the person is ‘my way or no way’ they need to take a hike. No one is going to get 100% of what they want in a candidate and to demand perfection is ludicrous.
BTW, so nice of you to sign up in January to post this garbage.
No, if Bush's guy Mike Duncan had been RE-elected as chairman, that would have been a move to kick conservatives overboard.
Steele is a conservative and I've never heard him referred to as a "moderate" until he was selected as chairman. Kind of how Mike Huckabee was always seen as a great conservative until the moment he got in the way of Fred Thompson's bid for President, then suddenly he was a "socialist"
Lots of history revisionists here on FR it seems.
Any move to the left to incorporate the liberal agenda, then I am leaving the GOP.