Posted on 03/05/2009 9:23:17 AM PST by SolidWood
Michael Steele should resign as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, according to a committee member from North Carolina.
In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina's national committeewoman, said Steele is "eroding confidence" in the GOP and that members of his transition team should encourage him to step aside. Fisher added Steele's personal e-mail address to the e-mail.
"I don't want to hear anymore [sic] language trying to be cool about the bling in the stimulus package or appealing to D.L. Hughley and blacks in a way that isn't going to win us any votes and makes us frankly appear to many blacks as quite foolish," Fisher wrote.
Fisher, who is one of three black members of the national committee, backed South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson, whom Steele edged out in the final round of voting to win the chairmanship in late January. She has voiced repeated opposition to Steele, sending dozens of e-mails to committee members even after Steele won election slamming him for any number of chips that have fallen awry.
Fisher’s call for Steele’s resignation comes amid growing frustration in the GOP that the new chairman’s repeated gaffes are hurting the party.
It remains unclear just how much trouble Steele may be in with his own membership. While several RNC members have told The Hill that Steele remains popular with their bases, Washington-based strategists are grumbling, an attitude that is slowly filtering down to the states.
Steele appeared over the weekend on Hughley's CNN show, where he fought back against the assertion that radio host Rush Limbaugh was the "de facto leader" of the Republican Party. Steele said he himself was the de facto leader and called Limbaugh an entertainer whose program's content was "incendiary" and "ugly."
On Monday, Limbaugh shot back, saying on his show that Steele was not the leader of the party and that many conservatives would "hang up" when Steele's RNC came calling for contributions.
"Limbaugh has already promised that 'His Conservatives' won't be giving to the RNC. I would suggest to you that that is a real bet," Fisher wrote. "If we can't raise money and continue to allow the alienation of the few varifiable [sic] red states remaining, we are foolish."
Steele later said he had reached out to Limbaugh to clarify his remarks, insisting he meant no offense. But the incident elicited crowing from Democrats, who for weeks have pursued a strategy seemingly designed to elevate Limbaugh to the front of the GOP line. Democrats would enjoy contrasting themselves with Limbaugh's assertion that he wants to see President Obama's economic policies fail.
Calling the Limbaugh-Steele clash a "Republican Horror Show," Fisher expressed what some other GOP strategists have until now only said privately: "I have never seen such ineptness in our GOP leadership," Fisher wrote. "And I though we handled the 2008 elections very poorly."
Fisher could not be reached for comment Thursday morning, while the RNC did not immediately have comment on her letter.
Go somewhere and try to make sense...then come back and post again.
No offense to Dr. Fisher, but she has been on the committee less than a year. Perhaps she should defer to some of those who know the national scene better than her for a bit.
The American Independent Party web site.
I agree. The dems and the media are loving this and we just keep on giving them more.
Better to do so this early than to linger ineffectively through the next election.
Steele quite plainly said “We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.”
So when you’re done lying and frothing, you are invited to rejoin us a the big-boy table.
Context? Link? Source? Date?
Michael Steele Attacks: El-Rushbo Affair a Systematic Effort to Distract From Obama Economic Disaster
“I just want to make one thing very clear. Folks need to understand what’s happening here, Sean. You’ve already talked about it. This is a systematic effort, I think, very well planned out to distract. They’re saying, “Oh, yeah, prices are going up for everything you have to pay for. Oh, let’s talk about Rush... Your 401K just dropped. Let’s talk about Rush... The stock market it tanking. Let’s talk about Rush...” We get it. We’ve figured it out now what the game plan is.”
RNC Chairman Michael Steele
Sean Hannity Show
March 4, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cDyNkNY0Tc
The man has shown himself to be less than ready for prime time. Are you telling me a Hip Hop outreach is the way to go? This is one of his great ideas if you haven't read about it. Or do you like writing off conservatives as "ugly" will attract new voters?
With all due respect, your attitude is what is wrong in the Republican Party. We never seem to fire anyone for incompetence. We promote them because of seniority and sadly in this case because the color of his skin. We better start demanding excellence and competence or we may well find ourselves saluting our glorious leader Comrade Zero with a government gun in our back.
A quote from LOTR, and very appropriate.
If you ask me we are in serious trouble and if the Repubs do not mount a good defense to stop Cap/Trade and Nationalized Medical Insurance we will be bankrupt in 3 years. And without some sense of an alternative, where will voters go?
Frankly we do not have much time and Steele better step up real fast.
schu
Exactly!!!!!! If Rush and Steele (who were acquaintances before this happened) could come together on this to put it behind them, we should too. Lets move on and stop feeding the headlines with our own hysteria.
He was talking about ONE CAMPAIGN to appeal to kids who like hip-hop. Use your brain. Failing that, at least, try to be honest.
I give to Conservative candidates only.
If the GOP/RNC/Whatever apparatus doesn’t clean up it’ll remain that way.
Give Mr. Steele a chance...he doesn’t know how to handle the Conservatives yet.
Maybe he should be let go ... but steel yourself for yet another media circus surrounding Limbaugh and the RNC “not being able to stand up to him” or “veering to the radical right toward Limbaugh” or some such nonsense ... not to mention that Steele was canned because he’s black...and don’t be surprised if Steele acts victimized and sides with the media.
Listen, the GOP has been in liberal fog for the last 4 years. Steele is coming out of it slowly now, but the rest of the GOP is still a ways behind him. He won’t be replaced with a substantially better candidate right now.
He is a man of faith. I have faith in him. You should too. Be careful we don’t eat our own like we’ve been doing the last 4 or so years.
I agree with the good doctor. She is right. Steele has proven he can’t control his rhetoric. Steele allowed his black buddy, DL Hughley to call CPAC something akin to a nazi gathering.
Before this gets too far along, TPTB should can Steele and get a true blue fire breathing conservative to lead the RNC onto a winning road. 2010 is right around the corner.
See sig line. There's a reason the GOP picked someone like Steele. Right now I'd say the Constitution Party is looking good.
A mass defection of the minority (and previosuly cowed) conservative faction is the GOP power brokers' worst nightmare. It will deprive them of what they seek above all else-- power for power's sake. They'll moan and attack us and never understand why we don't just compromise our conservative principles, because they are unprincipled compromisers by nature (See, eg, their candidates of choice, George W. Bush and Jonh McCain).
Let's be part of a groundswell.
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.