Folks, there are some serious questions as to the accuracy of the ABC News report linked to in this post showing a Steele quote criical of Palin, Pawlenty, and me.
As a result, I’m yanking the post and digging into it. I’ll see what I can do to sort it out.
Sorry for the inconvenience. This is bothersome. The actual video on which the interview was based does not reflect what was reported. Gail Gitcho from the RNC also say the Chairman was not dinging Palin, Pawlenty, or me.
Organizing for America, the increasingly combative political operation of the White House, today unveiled a new web video targeting Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele, charging the Republican Party chief with “siding with Washington elites and insurance companies and playing political games to kill reform.”
The latest installment in OfA’s “call ‘em out” campaign—a call to arms of sorts for complacent allies of President Barack Obama to debunk Republican myths about heath care reform—accuses Steele of scare-mongering and orchestrating a misinformation campaign against the President’s efforts on health care.
“Michael Steele is willing to lie and play political games in order to kill reform that would help Americans of every political party — so we’re calling him out,” reads an email from OfA Executive Director Jen O’Malley announcing the video.
The Democrats’ new web campaign, however, is as blatantly wrong as it is overtly hostile.
Opening with a recent segment from White House-scorned FOX News on health care reform’s “obligation to older Americans,” Steele said, “Just look at the situation with our veterans when you have a manual out there telling our veterans, you know, stuff like are you really a value to your community. You know, encouraging them to commit suicide.” Promptly followed by a blaring, rubber-stamped chyron reading “FALSE,” OfA cites as Politifact.com as cover for their claim.
At issue is a Department of Veteran Affairs-funded pamphlet—dubbed the “death book” by the Wall Street Journal—which presented various advanced care scenarios to aging veterans, callously prompting readers to then decide if their life would be “not worth living.” Democratic strategists correctly note the “Your Life, Your Choices” document was first published in 1997 and promoted by the VA throughout President George W. Bush’s two terms in office. What they fail to mention, conveniently, is that the “manual” was suspended after a review by Bush administration officials – and only later revived in 2009 by the new Democratic administration.
Kudos to Michael Steele. The Politico is reporting what we said would happen some months ago.
“Chairman Steele hasn’t put up a cent, not even the obligatory $5,000,” said a New York-based GOP operative. “There’s been no support from the RNC. Democrats are going all out for this race. Everyone’s in the same direction.”
Here is what I have been able to confirm about NY-23 and why we need $25,000.00 for that race ASAP.
The fourth and sixth points are most critical. Pete Sessions is trying to save face and potentially wasting money that could be used next year. Also, Hoffman is gaining fast and can win with his ground game.
We have the opportunity to make a significant impact in this race.
The Republican National Committee will unveil a new website early Tuesday morning that promises to increase grassroots participation and offers improved navigability and smarter marketing and fundraising tools for the GOP, according to party officials.
Upon reaching the new GOP.com, RNC Chairman Michael Steele takes a virtual step onto the computer screen and leads users on a tour of the site’s new features.
“Notice anything different?” asks Steele. “It’s the new GOP.com. It’s a forward-looking, open-platform for the party of new ideas. If you’re a Republican activist, this is your space.”
The developers of the new website hope to capitalize on the organic activism that gave way to Tea Parties across the nation by “creating a larger, more informed, more organized, and more energized Republican community.”
Conscious of the propensity for online social networking to mobilize activists, the new website was designed with an unmistakable attentiveness to social media and blogging, having devoted a significant portion of the landing page’s real estate to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.
At first glance, the RNC’s new digital threads look nothing like a typical political website. From the dynamic logo featuring user-submitted pictures of supporters to the refreshingly simple navigation menu, the revamped and reorganized GOP web presence represents a commonly-preached but rarely-practiced belief on Capitol Hill: that the best ideas come from outside the Beltway.
Is it really helpful for the leader of the Republican National Committee to say “I agree with you. And when stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out” after the host of the radio show he is on just spent a few minutes bashing the presumptive Republican nominee for the United States Senate in Missouri, Roy Blunt?
The radio host, Vincent David Jericho, wet on a tirade against both Matt and Roy Blunt. According to the News-Leader,
Steele, who was in Springfield for a fundraiser on Friday, tried to interrupt Jericho, but the host pressed on.
“Behave like a man – not like, not like little boys who are running around with their little toy and can’t behave themselves,” Jericho said.
Steele responded: “Look, now don’t, don’t – I mean, I agree with you. And when stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out.”
Sigh.
So stop wasting everybody’s time with pretending that you want Republicans for anything but cover and pass your cursed health care rationing bill.
Actually, that’s pretty much what he said:
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Thursday dared Democrats to try a one-party push to overhaul the nation’s health care system.
Steele told reporters that he thinks if Democratic senators think they have the votes, they should try a tactic that would allow them to get around a bill-killing filibuster without the 60 votes usually needed. Steele said he didn’t think Democrats would do it because of potential voter backlash.
“Get it to the floor. Up or down, baby,” Steele said at a news conference at the state GOP headquarters. “Put it on the table. And if you don’t think you’ve got enough votes to get to 60, you’ve got the nuclear option. You’ve got 51.”
(Via Hot Air Headlines)
Democrats who are surprised by this shouldn’t be: this is the natural and inevitable result of the Democratic House leadership deciding to freeze out House Republicans in writing bills this session. That particular bit of hubris then means that we feel that we’re under no obligation to give the Democrats political cover for a blessed thing now - and if the Democrats are feeling upset over that, well, good. They should direct that upset towards the people who actually caused it - which is to say, Pelosi, Hoyer, Murtha, Waxman, Frank, Obey, and every other House leader who let their sense of entitlement and need for petty revenge override their good sense.
Escalating their attacks on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul as a dangerous “experiment,” the RNC released a new web video today in which they characterize the President and his White House as, among other things, “in denial” over the economy.
RNC Chairman Michael Steele said, “President Obama has been in office now for 200 days, and the second hundred days of his administration have been worse than the first. The $787 billion stimulus experiment he rushed through Congress still isn’t creating jobs. The job-killing national energy tax he rushed through the House is threatening families and small businesses with higher energy bills.
“And now he wants to rush through Congress a $1.6 trillion government-run health care experiment that will make health care more expensive, add to the deficit and cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their current health insurance and doctors. President Obama has done all of this in just 200 days – and there are still 1,260 days left in his term. America can’t take any more of President Obama’s experiments,” he said.
This morning, the DNC launched a new ad curiously portraying President Obama’s critics as right-wing fringe lunatics, reflexively opposed to the president’s domestic agenda for belief in a citizenship conspiracy. At the close of the offensively absurd web video, a voice over instructed viewers to call the RNC to voice their outrage.
But the RNC was quick to the turn the tables on the Democrats with the particularly well-produced web ad, featuring an aloof Obama playing basketball while figures of the economic downturn race across the screen.
And in a surprising display of savvy, Democratic allies who reached the RNC’s phone lines were instructed to press 1 to voice concern over Republican “mobs,” at which point their call was automatically directed to the DNC’s main switchboard.
[Updated below]
At last week’s annual conference of the Young Republican National Federation, RNC Chairman Michael Steele joked that he would woo potential black voters with “fried chicken and potato salad,” prompting criticism from some prominent black Republicans that the G.O.P.’s first black chief was undermining outreach to the black community.
Asked how he intends to attract “diverse populations” to a party bereft of minority coalitions, Steele replied, “My plan is to say ‘Y’all come,’ because a lot of you are already here.”
But noting that an overwhelming 95% of black voters nationwide supported Obama in last year’s general election, black Republican strategists caution that simply saying “y’all come” won’t cut it. Ali Akbar, a young Georgia Republican and online consultant, warns there is something more fundamental to courting minority voters than merely rolling out the welcome mat.
“We have issues of tone, recognition of economic and social circumstances, and to be frank, we’re not talking about how our policy initiatives directly benefit the African American community.”
Indeed, we’re talking about fried chicken.
All it took was a video camera, 10,000 pennies and a little creativity. The result was a viral video that earned 28-year-old Matthias Shapiro of Utah the first-ever “Grassroots Logic Award” from the Republican National Committee.
Shapiro’s videos, which use pennies to put into context President Obama’s spending, earned him a trip to Washington, D.C., today. His most popular video, which is nearing 1 million views on YouTube, was released April 24 and mocked Obama’s measly $100 million budget cuts in comparison to the $3.5 trillion budget. A link from National Review’s Jonah Goldberg helped propel the self-described “math geek” to stardom — at least in the eyes of conservatives and libertarians frustrated by Obama’s appetite for government spending.
Last month Republican National Chairman Michael Steele released a video praising Shapiro’s work. He invited him to Washington so he could honor him.
Steele made good on his promise at a ceremony this morning at RNC headquarters on Capitol Hill. Shapiro traveled to Washington to collect the award and brief Senate Republicans about his work. (Not bad for someone who was completely unknown to the political world a few months ago.) There’s more coverage in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Today’s event might very well be a turning point for the notoriously stodgy RNC. I’ve been a tough critic of Steele, but I give him credit for opening his arms and embracing Shapiro.
“When I first saw his 10,000 Pennies video, I thought to myself, ‘Damn, that’s good. That’s really good,’” Steele said today. “I thought it was important to bring him and his wife to Washington so they could teach some of our friends on the Hill exactly what it’s like in the real world and exactly how the real world is understanding and appreciating what all of the spending means, what the deficits mean, and what a penny as a representation of that really adds up to.”
By embracing Shapiro, the RNC is clearly hoping to inspire others to engage in the same kind of entrepreneurial grassroots activism that will revitalize the GOP. Steele deserves credit for recognizing the potential and rewarding good work.
Now comes the hard part: Who’s next?
Today I attended the RNC Chairmen’s Meeting in Maryland, just outside DC. The headlines say that Steele faces a rebellion from some members of the Committee, who are trying to take away some of his authority over Committee pursestrings. The message here is that Republicans are completely united - save for 6 or 8 members, in a committee of more than 150 - and that the Committee is unlikely to hobble the Chairman.
Steele’s speech today stressed that he is looking forward, not back:
If you can draw a conclusion from the audience, Steele’s comments seem to have gotten a warm response. The lunch audience - composed of many of the officials who’ll decide on any limits to his authority - gave him several standing ovations. I met afterwards with 6-8 of Steele’s strongest supporters; it seems one reason that the anti-Steele crowd is having trouble building support is that so many committee members are encouraged by progress on the ground. Several commented that Steele is criss-crossing the country doing dozens of local events. They say Steele is getting a great reception, with GOP foot soldiers eager to meet him. They look to the success of the Tea Party movement, and see the Tea Partiers as the core of an active and engaged grassroots movement. And they stress that of the people who’ve come out to register their anger at big spending and big borrowing, many are Independents, or unregistered voters, or even Democrats. Ohio Chairman DeWine commented that the Tea Partiers are engaging on an issue that’s ‘in the Republican wheelhouse.’
I hear analysts saying that the GOP is in dire straits, but you couldn’t guess it walking around here. These state party leaders are excited, and seemingly can’t wait for 2010 to get here.
Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele should resign from his post immediately, according to the American Family Association’s new online survey.
In light of Steele’s regrettable GQ interview, AFA President Don Wildmon asked members if the beleaguered Republican chief should resign from his post, declaring the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland believes “abortion is a choice, and homosexuality is not.”
An overwhelming 94% of the more than 74,500 respondents answered Wildmon in the affirmative.
Likewise making their displeasure known, prominent social conservative luminaries characterized Steele’s mea-culpa as “very troubling.” Ken Blackwell, who formerly endorsed Steele after withdrawing from consideration for chairman on the fifth round of balloting, sternly instructed his former rival to “re-read the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and the 2008 GOP Platform … or get out of the way.”
Both Chairman Steele and his socially conservative detractors, the number of which are growing by the thousands at AFA’s website, are sorely misinformed: The role of RNC Chairman is not one of a curator of opinion. Steele’s opinions on abortion and gay rights – whenever he settles on one – should have no influence on the implementation of sound strategies in his capacity as chairman.
Speculating perhaps that the “open,” candidate-centered campaign for chairman manufactured Steele’s present predicament by creating the perception that the candidates’ opinions actually mattered, Phil Klein writes, “in the end, it turned the race into more of a personality contest.”
What’s the matter with Michael Steele? It’s a question a lot of Republicans are asking these days. When the former Maryland Lieutenant Governor was elected chairman of the GOP, many of us who had supported more conservative candidates or more proven fundraisers at least felt good about one thing: because Steele is an impressive and at times eloquent public speaker who’s been tested as a commentator on Fox News, we could be sure that whatever else happened, we were getting a guy who would be a good public face, spokesman and salesman for the party and its ideas. Instead, his comments on abortion, on Rush Limbaugh and other topics have ended up dividing Republicans, giving fodder to our enemies and generating one bad news cycle after another.
I think I can explain the problem.
In what will only serve as additional ammunition for his more socially conservative detractors, RNC chief Michael Steele split with the party faithful and took a decidedly controversial position: That homosexuality was not, in his opinion, a choice.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really subscribed to [the] view [that homosexuality is a choice], that you can turn it on and off like a water tap,” he said in a recent interview with GQ’s Lisa DePaulo. Even going so far as comparing the static nature of sexuality to race, he said, “You just can’t simply say, oh, like, ‘Tomorrow morning I’m gonna’ stop being gay.’ It’s like saying, ‘Tomorrow morning I’m gonna’ stop being black.’”
Steele’s comments, while seemingly refreshing to moderate GOP members, highlight a serious concern among the fledgling chairman’s critics. His proclivity for embarrassing gaffes is forcing the RNC’s skeleton crew to work double-time to salvage what remains of his once sterling reputation as a polished spokesman.
“Lest we forget, communication was supposed to be his strongest suit,” writes an irritated Phil Klein. But why, then, must we be inundated with stories of clearly avoidable mistakes? Klein argues that Steele’s desire to portray a moderate-friendly image at all times, even at the cost of abandoning his own principles, results in the delivery of a “completely muddled message.”
That may be the case. In an interview with GQ, Michael Steele sounds very much like he is declaring himself pro-abortion.
Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.
You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.
Now, to be fair, his solution is a federalist solution to let the individual states decide — a position I favor because I don’t believe it is presently possible to end abortion at the national level and this would be the result should Roe v. Wade be overturned.
Hopefully he’ll clarify his position or can show he was misquoted. I hope so.
Leon points out to me in an email that the question was “have the right” not “should have the right.” So it could be he was just responding with a pure statement of fact.
I foresee a bad week for him, again, if he does not get out front and just affirm that he was responding to the actual facts of the question that women do presently have that right and not responding to the question of whether they should have the right.
We can only hope.
Katon Dawson, one time contender for the top Republican post, is quietly coordinating a vote of no confidence in newly-elected RNC Chairman Michael Steele after the NY 20 special election on March 31 – “regardless of whether Republicans win the seat or not,” reports Taegan Goddard.
After an extremely divisive race for RNC Chairman, Steele, the former Chairman of GOPAC, bested Dawson on the sixth ballot, and political insiders are quick to note the lingering bad blood between the two rivals.
If Goddard’s sources are correct, Dawson won’t be the only top-ranking party official to voice their concern over Steele’s debut month as Chairman. In a memo circulated last week to national committee members, Dr. Ada Fisher, one of three African American members of the RNC and a former Dawson supporter, called for Steele’s resignation, saying he was “eroding confidence” in the national party apparatus to fundraise and remain competitive in a Republican-hostile climate.
The metrics by which Fisher, and ostensibly Dawson, judge Steele – his proposed ‘hip hop’ makeover, and the public flap with Rush Limbaugh – are embarrassingly shallow, particularly so when used as ammunition to call for a chairman’s resignation. As Politico’s Mike Allen explains, ousting a party chairman is no small order, in fact, the likelihood of other members joining Fisher and now Dawson is exceptionally low.
Joining a growing choir of conservative luminaries, thought-leaders and activists in criticizing newly-elected RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Samuel “Joe The Plumber” Wurzelbacher leveled some harsh, Johnny-come-lately criticisms earlier this week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At a gathering of 800 conservative activists at Americans for Prosperity’s “Defending the American Dream Summit,” Wurzelbacher warned of the “long road ahead” as Republicans wander the desert for the next four years without leadership, awaiting the 2010 and 2012 elections.
“Unfortunately we have a chairman up there who wants to redefine conservatism; he wants to make it hip hop, put it in a new package and sell it,” Wurzelbacher griped as he referenced a three week old Steele interview with the Washington Post’s Ralph Z. Hallow. After his historic election, the newly-minted Chairman told Hallow he intended to revitalize the Party’s stale image – one all too often associated with aging, technophobic white men – via an unprecedented presence in print, television, radio, and online outlets.
Wurzelbacher’s reductive critique of Chairman Steele’s agenda serves no one’s purpose beyond his own, as he recently hung up the plunger and boots to publish a book. And to boost sales of this not-so-originally titled book, Fighting for the American Dream, it isn’t surprising that Wurzelbacher would resort to drumming up controversy where none exists, or revive a one which has long since faded into the annals of bad talking points.
After a brief run-in with then Senator Barack Obama, Wurzelbacher was catapulted to the national stage by the McCain campaign as a shining example of the quintessential blue collar, small business owner who was threatened by Obama’s tax system. But his lasting influence – the fact we’re now 4 months out from November 4th but still forced to read the cringe-inducing title “Joe the Plumber” – is explained as such: His current media presence is an unfortunate byproduct of the 2008 campaign, a byproduct I regrettably helped create as an agent of that campaign. We unknowingly created a monster, and I suspect he won’t leave town until he’s chased by angry villagers with pitchforks.
Of course, CNN being what it is, no mention of that was made in the firing show cancellation announcement, which blamed the termination of D.L. Hughley’s weekend talk show on “budget constraints.”
The statement continued:
D.L. approached CNN about being permanently based in Los Angeles, where his family lives. To accommodate this, we agreed upon a new role where he will be a contributor for the network based in Los Angeles. We are eager to continue our relationship with D.L. who is a tremendous talent and a valued colleague.
Why is it not surprising that CNN would be “eager to continue [its] relationship” with a man who had the following exchange with RNC Chairman Michael Steele last Saturday night:
A lot of readers sent me a link to Michelle’s post on Steele, Hughley, and the Nazis.
Good Lord did Steele really botch this interview. I thought he was an articulate spokesman.
Hughley tells Steele the Republican Convention looked like a Nazi party gathering in Germany.
Steele’s response? Well, here’s the unedited transcript from CNN covering that portion of the interview:
HUGHLEY: Well, Michael, I agree. I’m telling you, if it were the sign alone — in other words, the tenets of the Republican Party are amazing and they seem warm and welcome. But when I watch it be applied — like you didn’t have to go much further than the Republican National Convention.
STEELE: Agreed.
HUGHLEY: It literally look like Nazi Germany. It literally did. I make that point, not only are we not welcome — not only are we not welcome, but they don’t even care what we think. And that …
STEELE: Well, I’m here now
EPIC. FAIL.
Monday Michael Steele got taken behind the woodshed by Limbaugh, de-trousered and birched but good. To put it mildly, he had it coming, and I personally enjoyed it. However, if you heard Steele’s ‘apology’ it’s clear he didn’t learn his lesson, and if he does not figure it out very quickly, he will set new records for ‘Least Noticed Person In America’.
So I ask: Hey, anybody else want some? McConnell? Boehner? McCain and the rest of the RMSP party traitors? The gang at Weekly Standard? O’Reilly? Would any more of you high-ranking muckety-mucks in the Republican Party, and self-appointed ‘conservative’ pundits, like to dish (yet again) on conservatives and conservatism? Any more of you care to try to suck up to leftists and racists by accepting their criminally ignorant, slanderous depictions of Republicans and conservatives? Is it important to you to be seen as reasonable and independent by the hard-left Marxist media and the Democrats in Washington? [you may not know it, but their name for you is 'useful idiots'. Just sayin'.]
You had better wake up. Maybe YOU want to be the Republican Wing of the Democratic Party, but that’s not what grassroots Republicans want. After three generations of doing that (with a few deviations like Reagan and the 1994 Contract With America), we’re SO done with your way.
This past Wednesday night, RedState and Human Events held a party welcoming back Republicans to Congress. Our special guest and keynote speaker was Michael Steele.
In his opening remarks he mentioned RedState not endorsing him. He said he could get over it, but would say to me (calling me out by name) what Obama said after he secured the nomination — “How do ya like me now?”
We laughed. We made up. To answer his question, though, today I’m not sure.
This sort of thing with Rush Limbaugh plays right into concerns many of us had about Steele. He called Rush’s CPAC speech, which was very well received, “incendiary” and “ugly.”
What was so ugly about it? What was so incendiary?
Rush lit into Steele today on the radio. And he’s absolutely right on this. First, Steele made a novice mistake. Of course the media is going to try to start a fight. Look at what they tried to do between Rush and Cantor. Steele took the bait. He should not have.
Second, if Steele actually wants to support Obama, as Rush rightly pointed out, why the hell is he Chairman of the RNC instead of the DNC? And why should people give money to the RNC if they are going to be apologists?
This is not a fight between Rush Limbaugh and Michael Steele. This is a fight between Michael Steele’s mouth and his foot. Matt Lewis has some more thoughts.
By the way, if you are hesitant, given the present situation, of giving money to the RNC, might I suggest giving instead to the National Conservative Campaign Fund?
