Friday, January 30, 2009

Congratulations? Michael Steele elected Chair of the RNC

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Former Maryland Lt. Governor Micheal Steele has been elected Chair of The Republican Party.

Good. I have only one charge for you, Mr. Steele: Make me believe.

I'm hopeful that electing Mr. Steele is not the elective version of changing captains on the Titanic.

AP – Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele holds a gavel after he w as elected the first black Republican Chairman.

The last Presidential campaign was a throwback to the abortive effort by Sen. Bob Dole... and that's not the kind of "change" I can believe in.

So far, the wimpy efforts of the GOP in the Senate in caving and allowing, for example, the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, does nothing to strengthen my resolve, although I will admit that the late opposition to Mr. Obama's Generational Indebtedness program is a hopeful sign.

I repeat, Mr. Steele: make me believe. I was one of the most hard core Republicans alive, working my butt off to get Republicans elected... Republicans that then betrayed us and engaged in either corrupt or expedient politics that has sold us out.

Just like their leftist counterparts.

Do what has to be done. Require every state party to immediately design, staff and implement a full time, year-around, Minority Outreach Program. Require every state party to design and implement an early candidate identification, vetting, training and funding program for state-level candidates.

Make each state party relevant again. And you might want to start with the West Coast.

Just a thought.

Make me believe, Mr. Steele.


Michael Steele becomes first black RNC chairman
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Play Video AP – Raw Video: Steele becomes RNC chairman

WASHINGTON – The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American p resident. The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."

Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican Party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November's national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress put Barack Obama in the White House.

GOP delegates erupted in cheers and applause when his victory was announced, but it took six ballots to get there. He'll serve a two-year term.

Steele, an attorney, is a conservative, but he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running.

He was also considered an outsider because he's not a member of the Republican National Committee. But the 168-member RNC clearly signaled it wanted a change after eight years of Bush largely dictating its every move as the party's standard-bearer.

Steele became the first black candidate elected to statewide office in Maryland in 2002, and he made an unsuccessful Senate run in 2006. The former chairman of the Maryland Republican Party currently serves as chairman of GOPAC, an organization that recruits and trains Republican political candidates, and in that role he has been a frequent presence on the talk show circuit.

He vowed to expand the reach of the party by competing for every group, everywhere.

"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.

"There is not one inch of ground that we're going to cede to anybody," he added.

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1 comment:

K.J. Hinton said...

The issue isn't racism, as you portrayed here.

My opposition to Obama has nothing to do with the half of his racial makeup that the media focuses on, without ever mentioning the other half.

The issue is his absolute lack of qualifications to run this country, a lack of experience and depth he has aptly and repeatedly shown over the last month.

I apply that same criteria to Mr. Steele. He has the experience, both administratively and politically. To me, the question remaining is this: does he have the vision, and does he have the follow through?

Only time will tell. As for Mr. Obama, anyone with a brain in their head would have known what a mistake it was to elect this man.