Once upon a midnight dreary, with my eyes red-rimmed and bleary
(Having late perused fell stories of my party's sins of yore)
I heard outside a distant rumbling, followed hard by footsteps stumbling --
Then a voice came meekly mumbling, mumbling at my chamber door.
I heard the sound of tumblers tumbling, op'ning wide my chamber door:
The Chairman now I stood before!
I knew full well the curse of Nixon, knew Scalia put the fix in
When my party's leaders learned that Bush had really lost to Gore;
But I'd never heard of donors spanking strippers, sprouting boners,
While the party's rightful owners paid the tab that they might score.
Alas! We paid the tab so donors might with kinky strippers score!
Now quoth the Chairman: "Nevermore."
Was this a promise I ought credit? If I did, would I regret it?
Vexing thoughts like these reached deep into my soul's uneasy core.
I gazed upon a bust of Lincoln, hoping I might thereby drink in
Wisdom which might later sink in while I stood inside my door --
When the Chairman's minions asked for money just inside my door.
Quoth Mister Lincoln: "Nevermore!"
As I wait for Obama to give his speech to the joint houses of Congress tonight, I am seeing ads all over the place pushing every possible view on reforming health care. I've seen late-night ads by independent (although obviously right-wingnut) organizations pushing every lie that has been raised on Health Care Reform, from Death Panels to to a statement that the majority of Americans are happy with what they've got. I've seen the AARP come out pushing reform in Health Care and not to shy away from changes that have to be made.
Quick question for readers of Open Left: which person, after being introduced to the nation with some fanfare, ended up being a bigger liability to the GOP, Sarah Palin or Michael Steele?
When Palin was introduced as John McCain's running mate there was a honeymoon period that lasted a couple weeks before she opened her mouth without benefit of a script. After the interview with Charlie Gibson her favorability ratings started a quick dive and soon (especially after the Couric interview) her negatives were higher than her positives. Any chance McCain had to win Independent voters was gone.
When Steele was introduced there was similar GOP optimism for awhile. Like Palin, he was a rare non-white-male Republican who they hoped would help the GOP expand its base. Nationally he was just as much of an unknown as Palin was before her selection and many Republicans projected their hopes onto him. Like Palin, however, he seems to have a problem speaking without a script (such as the new revelations here). So much of a distraction as he become that he may be dropped as RNC Chair.
Of course there was also talk of dropping Palin from the ticket. But, as many here pointed out, McCain was is in a no-win situation at that point. Keep her and he would lose the moderates. Dump her and he would lose enthusiasm, turnout and contributions from activist Republicans.
A similar situation faces the GOP now only the sides are reversed. Keep Steele and try for moderates or dump Steele (and go with Katon Dawson) take a lot of bad press and give up, to some degree, on moderates. It's a no-win and it's just as fantastic as the McCain situation was last fall.
What is it with the "black leaders" the GOP comes up with to challenge Barack Obama? First Alan Keyes, then Michael Steele:
STEELE: And first off the government doesn't create jobs. Let's get this notion out of our heads that the government creates jobs. Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job.
It took all afternoon and into the evening, and six votes, but the new Chair of the Republican National Committee is Michael Steele (who lost his Senate bid to Ben Cardin in 2006, primarily because he refused to put "Republican" on any of his materials, but pushed his campaign to "Steele Democrats.") He was featured in an ABC report in 2006:
The GOP Senate candidate who anonymously described his Republican affiliation as an "impediment" to his electoral prospects while speaking with the Washington Post's Dana Milbank and others at a Monday luncheon is none other than Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, ABC News learned Tuesday.
"'I've got an 'R' here, a scarlet letter,'" said Steele of his party affiliation. "'If this race is about Republicans and Democrats, I lose.'"
I know that various Republicans don't like Michael Steele, but he's the only candidate for RNC Chair with whom I've taken a photo. So he has my endorsement for the post, and I have huge sway among RNC members. We took this photo at a Maryland primary debate event between Donna Edwards and Al Wynn, and while he wouldn't tell me explicitly, I did get the sense that he was a Wynn supporter. He knew them both (though Donna Edwards less so) and professed friendship for Wynn, which is not surprising considering Wynn and Steele were both significant Maryland elected officials.
A selection of Steele as RNC Chair would suggest a desire for moderation within the Republican Party, since Steele is no conservative firebrand and bases his appeal on being a pretty nice moderate kind of guy. I'm sure Marylanders will tell me all sorts of bad things he did as Lieutenant Governor, and I'm sure he did all those things, I'm just speaking to his campaign in 2006 and his general political orbit.
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