He cofounded a liberal GOP group with Whitman and then left it when he started this run.
He has made commenst on RKBA less than desirable.
He moved left to run in Maryland....pragmatic I know.
He preaches big tent and solicitaing more moderate voters all the time....that is his schtick.
I fail to see that as aplus. I’d prefer someone who drives home Reagan-Rush-Early Newt ideology.
That’s just me.
I love Palin, no secret to anyone here who knows me.
This is from newsweek last nite:
“The GOP today elected its first black chairman — former Maryland Lieutenant Governor and Fox News commentator Michael Steele. Steele, the most moderate of the Republican candidates who ran for the chairmanship, is a pro-life Catholic and an advocate of limited government and lower taxes.
According to the Associated Press, it took six rounds of voting to select Steele as he defeated the incumbent party chief and three other challengers.
Although he personally opposes the federal marriage amendment, Steele has said he would support the amendment as chairman because it is in the party’s platform. In his acceptance speech, he continued with his tone of inclusiveness.
“We’re going to say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us, and for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over,” Steele said.”
Weekly Standard:
Segments of the conservative movement have been questioning Michael Steele’s commitment to conservative values, particularly social issues, posing the first obstacle in his bid for RNC chair.
At issue is his part in founding the centrist, pro-choice Republican Leadership Council with Christine Todd Whitman and John Danforth, whose mission includes embracing fiscally conservative candidates with diverse social views. But Steele told the Washington Times this week that he is no longer on the RLC’s board, having left in spring of this year when the organization began getting involved in Republican primaries (audio, here):
“I shouldn’t be listed on their site because I’m not on their board anymore...I have a fundamental issue with organizations getting involved in primaries, and the organization was endorsing candidates in primaries, which I am fundamentally opposed to...I get what you’re trying to do, but if you do it in a way that will alienate people, then it’s not ultimately to the benefit of the party...I can’t be a part of that.”
RLC’s mission, as stated by the group’s website:
Inspired by a drive to get back to the fundamentals of the Republican Party, Senator John Danforth, Lt. Governor Michael Steele, and Governor Christine Todd Whitman created the political organization the Republican Leadership Council, which advocates for the historic Republican principles of liberty, individual responsibility, and personal freedom.
RLC-PAC’s vision is a Republican Party that is unified by the basic tenets of fiscal responsibility and personal freedom, but that allows for diverse opinions on social issues by its members.
If you’re having a “one of these things is not like the other” moment in reading that line-up, you’re not alone. Whitman is constantly and openly at odds with social conservatives in the party and Danforth has become recently critical of the influence religious conservatives have, writing in 2005, “Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians.”
DU loves Steele too btw
they consider him a thumb in the eye to social conservatives.....whom I guess they think are all racist