Posted on 01/04/2009 5:49:59 PM PST by St. Louis Conservative
Among the candidates for Republican National Committee chairman, there’s no question Michael Steele is among the most recognizable — a political celebrity thanks to his work for Fox News and run for U.S. Senate in 2006.
Aside from his political celebrity — and knack for being a good talking head — there’s little else about the man that would make him a good chairman. While much has been written about his candidacy and the reasons conservatives should be skeptical, time is running out to convince the 168 members of the RNC they should steer clear of him. Here’s why:
Steele boasts that his chairmanship of GOPAC qualifies him to run the RNC. He cites GOPAC’s work to elect Republicans as good preparation. So how did GOPAC fare under Steele’s leadership? During the 2008 cycle, GOPAC gave 11 candidates seeking U.S. House seats nearly $20,000. Six won and five lost.
Among GOPAC’s expenditures in 2008 was $5,000 to Steele for Maryland, even though Steele wasn’t on the ballot. The money probably went to pay off Steele’s 2006 campaign debt. It also happened to be the third largest expenditure for GOPAC, raising questions about the organization’s priorities under his leadership.
Money has been a problem for Steele in the past. Jennifer Skalka of National Journal’s Hotline reported that when Steele’s consulting business struggled financially, two banks threatened to place liens on his house. Although Steele cleared his debts, these financial issues are factors that must be considered for anyone seeking the RNC chairmanship.
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
Just put Juan Williams in charge. Pull the plug; the GOP as we know it is gone.
I pulled the plug and put away my wallet a long time ago. State level is on life support, local level is (mostly) alive and well.
I was amenable to Steele until I heard him doing a radio show. He loves RINOs, wants a big tent party. Screw ‘im.
I live in Maryland so naturally like Steel but this is good information.
Steele also favors affirmative action and is against repealing Roe vs Wade.
True. The Bush/McCain/Bill Kristol/Michael Gerson/David Frum GOP is gone, and good riddence. We are rebuilding and we can come back stronger, but we need to make good decisions regarding our leadership.
I have always liked Steele; but when I heard he is for affirmative action and some other things. I said nope.
Thanks St. Louis Conservative: good info about Michael Steele but I would reserve judgment until I verified these critiques. I heard Ken Blackwell on Rush or some other talk show..and he sounded very intelligent and seems to recognize the need for the GOP to come back to its Conservative roots. I hope he wins.
I heard him, probably talking with Hannity, and when he started talking about bringing new people into the party I began to write him off. And he might have used the disqualifying phrase (for me): “reach out”.
Until the party stops thinking it must pander to specific groups, and begins appealing to everyone with the same principles and ideas, I think it’ll remain the distant minority party created for us by the Bushes, Rove, McCain and their RINO running buddies.
he’s got very little to say, heard him on a Local DC show with his former boss, Bob Ehrlich and Ehrlich had a much better grasp of strategy and conditions than Steele, was not impressed at all.
Ok, I’ll go ahead and type this .... many think Steele is the answer to Obama because he is black. We need true Conservative leadership. Let’s stop and take a look at why the GOP lost and understand that more RINOS or moderates is not the answer. We “NEED” Conservatives.
You are right, but how do we get them? It is not as if they are out there and we can exchange a RINO for a conservative. If we reject all the RINO’s and don’t somehow bring in people that are conservitive....from wherever you think you may find them, then we are going to become a neat, tidy LITTLE group.
The Democrats do as well as they do because they include ANYONE in the party. They are getting stronger and stronger, bringing in more and more people, while we knit pick our members and spew out those that don’t fit in our cookie cutter. A dangerous road this.
ping
Yeah, and if we just want to pick a black guy, Ken Blackwell is probably a better choice anyhow. :-P I liked the idea of Steele as RNC chair initially - I think he ran a good campaign in MD, loved the "puppies" ad - but the more I hear the more disenchanted I become. I think we can do better.
At this point, it really doesn't matter who the GOP pick. Steele is an awful choice, he's someone the GOP will pick just to say they're not mean-old racists. The problem with the party is that it is not dreaming anymore, there are no new ideas, no visionaries, no contrast with the Democrats. The GOP is more interested in accepting and lessening the growth of socialism rather than stopping it completely in its track. Watch what happens when Gov Palin runs in 2012. The party elites are going to join with the Dems and MSM to railroad her just like the GOP & Fox News did to Ron Paul.
IMHO... reaching out is the ONLY way we will ever be in control again. Some of the narrow mindedness on this forum will keep us out of power for a long, long, time. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the big tent philosophy as long as we have common goals.
A Libertarian in charge of the GOP? Surely you jest.
Next time, given another choice between pseudo-socialism and the real thing, what do you think the marching morons will vote for? Face it: the other guys hold the patent on identity-group politics. The only things that we-can-do-that-too "reaching out" would accomplish would be to dilute conservatism and encourage even more conservatives to sit on their hands in disgust.
No, what we need to do is reach through the labels to the people themselves. That's a rant for another day, but a certain recent VP candidate gave us reason to believe that it might just work.
(And before anyone starts pointing fingers, yes, I voted. For Sarah and her running-mate. I also spent too many hours last fall doing pointless phone "surveys" from McPalin HQ in my city. Quoth the Raven.)
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