Michael Steele / Photo Credit: Rockville Central
Posted on 01/31/2009 5:53:09 AM PST by NYer
.- The Republican National Committee has chosen Michael Steele, a devout Catholic who is well-known for his charisma and strong work ethic, as its new chairman.
Steele, who previously served as the lieutenant governor of Maryland, is the first black chairman of the Republican Party. He was selected after six rounds of voting with 91 votes out of a possible 168. Steele beat out Ken Blackwell, Ohio's former secretary of state, and Saul Anuzis, Michigan GOP chairman, to win the chairmanship.
Some Republicans questioned Steele's conservative credentials during the campaigning for the chairmanship because of his past association with Christie Todd Whitman's Republican Leadership Council (RLC). Many conservatives within the Party ridiculed the RLC's "big tent" philosophy, which they say attempted to bring pro-abortion candidates onto the Republican ticket.
Deal Hudson, a Catholic political commentator, explained that he first became convinced of Steele's pro-life convictions by a 2003 meeting he invited Steele to with the U.S. Catholic bishops' executive committee.
According to Hudson, Steele spoke "very directly, but diplomatically, to the bishops about their need to promote the pro-life cause with greater vigor. He talked about his disappointment with their leadership and its consequences among the African-American community. When he finished talking there was a powerful silence in the room."
Steele's pro-life credentials were even further verified by his 2006 Senate run in Maryland, Hudson said.
The new chaiman was in good spirits Friday as he accepted the top post of the Republican National Committee. "It's time for something completely different, and we're gonna bring it to them," he said, according to FOX News. "Get ready, baby. It's time to turn it on."
"People like Mike," former Governor of Maryland Robert Ehrlich Jr. told the Baltimore Sun. "He's really charismatic. He's a really solid person. He's a solid family guy."
Michael Steele’s Catholic roots include attending Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington D.C. and then, in 1981, entering the seminary to study for the Augustinian Friars at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
After completing the pre-novitiate period, Steele entered the novitiate for the Augustinians in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Six months later, he decided to pursue a career in law.
"Michael was a very bright, articulate man who I would say gave himself very sincerely to the whole process of discernment," Fr. Francis J. Doyle, who was Steele’s novice master and spiritual director, told the Baltimore Sun.
Excellent!
Prayers for him on this new journey in his life.
this is the guy I thought would be GREAT! I didn’t even know he was in the running. He was always so well spoken, intelligent...when seen as a talking pundit on FOX.
Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!
Steel’s election means the GOP will continue to its journey of compromise, becoming little more than Donk Lite.
Blago is supposedly a devout Catholic too. I'm more interested in whether or not he's going to represent a hard line against government spending, gun control, illegal immigration, socialized medicine, and the host of evils lumped under the so-called "social justice" label.
No doubt you are familiar with the expression: You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time. A quick tour through the history of political candidates is sufficient to understand what happens to hard liners. Some will love them but they never get elected.
In his ONLY televised interview last night, with his friend Sean Hannity, Steele noted that the RNC believes the majority of Americans are middle roaders, slightly to the right. That group, I believe, will be his audience. The fact that he is pro-life is a major starting point in eliminating wasted tax-payer dollars on abortion or towards legalized euthanasia. It will be a long time, even for a liberal, to get legislation banning personal ownership of guns. So, relax and enjoy the fireworks.
But he is a conflicted man; tragically afraid to voice his true beliefs to the public at large. His campaign for Senate against a complete nonentity was marked by namby-pamby RINO speechifying, lame attempts at humor, insincere self-deprecation, and an absolute tin ear.
He is weak on illegal immigration and borders,
gun control
vote reform (never said a word about Baltimore election chicanery)
Environment
and in general "appreciates" to boring death both sides of a proposition.
In general, he is (or at least was, on the campaign trail) timid and appears afraid to piss any body off. RINO? I'd say this dude is RINO Lite.
Surprise us, Steele. Kick some ass. Take some names. Tell the world Global Warming and the CO2 scam are bullshiite. Ask our beloved President where the hell he is from, exactly, and what the hell he was doing running around Kenya supporting a violent marxist jihadist SOB who massacred Christians and ethnically cleansed a rival tribe
Let me be first:
In response to the Democrat's having elected the country's first African Amercian President, Republican's decided to follow the example of the Democrat's and have nominated one of the few blacks in the Republican party to lead them in the uphill battle they are facing in the runup to the 2010 elections.
Well stated!
I wish some of the more sanctimonious psuedo-conservatives on this site (aka “Paleo-Freepers”) would take heed of your wisdom and maturity. Unfortunately, some never learn or remember the lessons of history.
I think you're spot on with just these few words. A country's greatness is measured by the morality of its citizenry.
Actually he is an amoral egotist, but I remember reading on his web site when he was in the Kongress that he claimed to be a Catholic, not any of the particular flavors thereof
Or maybe his true beliefs are just rino. By picking someone who has expoused the same sort of things that Bush called compassionte conservatism, the RNC has sent a message of business as usual to true conservatives.
Wow do you have a short memory. Barak Obama is a hard line leftest (elected) Nancy Pelosi is a hard line leftest (elected) Harry Reid is a hard line leftest (elected) Teddy the fat is a hard line leftest (repeatedly relected) Hilary Clinton is a hard line leftest (elected) and saving the best for last Ronald Reagan was a hard line conservative (elected twice) so the facts are in direct contradiction to your false assertion that hard liners don't get elected.
Not my first choice, but the RNC could have done a lot, lot worse. I’ll take it.
He’s conservative. Racial disparaging remarks are okay — preferably served up with Oreo cookies.
Your ramble is spot on and one of the reasons I seldom post here any more.
I know that getting rid of the hyper-critical, down in the mouth posters is impossible, but I am really, really tired of them.
There are a few good threads left with positive, optimistic conservatives but so many of them are ruined by the Other Types.
When he feels the occasional need for spiritual guidance he turns to a variety of sources, including most recently, a group of black pastors who offered him counseling during the Senate seat fiasco.
A gun grabber has no business leading conservatives. I could never support Robert Bork for the same reason.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.