Michael Steele's Phony Hospitality

Back in January, there were many people who hoped that Michael Steele would become the next chairman of the GOP. He had worked on the centrist Republican Leadership Council and had made some pledges to work hard to include moderates in the party.

Five months later, I now see the former Lt. Governor of Maryland as a joke. Instead of standing up for moderates, he has caved in the far right.

But in his mind, the party is still open to moderates: as long as they sit down, shut up and know who is running this party. He said as much in an interview with National Public Radio last Wednesday when asked if there was room for pro-choice Republicans:

Yeah, sure, why not? Look, I'm not going to stand at the door with a little checklist and say, well, you can be a Republican and you can't. I welcome everyone to this party. But understand, it's like — you know, when I come to your house for dinner, all right, and I sit down at your table, what do you think of me when I look at your wife or look at you and go, "You know, this is a nice meal but I would have preferred chicken. And if you could take this plate off, I think I'd like a different type of china." It is what you serve.

NPR Host Robert Siegel pushes him on this statement by wondering if the pro-life people are the hosts of the party:

And well, it's not just that they're our guests. It's just that you're welcome into their house but understand, you know, when you come in that there's some core principles and values. And it's not just pro-values and pro-family; we're talking about pro-markets. We're pro-business. We're talking about the empowerment of individuals to take ownership and keep more of their hard-earned money. And if those things matter more to you than what we see unfolding right now with this administration, you're welcome to come here.

A few days later in Wisconsin, he makes a similar statement, that all are welcome but...

"All you moderates out there, y'all come. I mean, that's the message," Steele said at a news conference. "The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front.

"Understand that when you come into someone's house, you're not looking to change it. You come in because that's the place you want to be."

Blogger Rick Moran notes what happens when you come into the GOP house and actually do say something:

Everyone can come in and sit down for the feast but if you are pro-choice, or pro-gay marriage, or pro-amnesty, kindly realize that no one is going to listen to you so you might as well keep your mouth shut. Meanwhile, your cousins and other relations can publicly chastise you for your different opinions, actively seek to undermine your re-election by running a primary challenger against you, deny you party support, and will stay at home on election day so a Democrat will probably defeat you anyway.

An exaggeration? Not by much if you listen to many conservatives on talk radio and the internet. For these activists, war has been declared on those they consider “establishment” Republicans or “elitists.” Just what makes these animals dangerous is never articulated to a satisfactory degree. Sometimes, the transgression is as small as praising President Obama for something he’s done. More serious violations include working with Democrats in Congress to solve problems, being pro-choice, or daring to say that the party has become too ideological and even too conservative to win in many states and districts around the country.

I really don't know who Mr. Steele thinks he's fooling. What he is offering is phony hospitality, likening the GOP to some kind of club where if you follow the club rules, you are okay, but woe to the one that doesn't.

But political parties are not exclusive clubs: they are coalitions of varying interests. The problem here is that a few or one member of the Republican coalition has started to think that they are it and that to be in the party means everyone must be like them.

And Mr. Steele who once talked about how the far right must be more tolerant of moderates is now offering this shuck and jive faux hospitality that says we can be part of the group as long as we toe the line

That's not hospitality; that's bullying and Mr. Steele should know better.

Call this what it is, Mr. Steele. Stop pretending you are being welcoming to us moderates. You aren't.

Why Does Rush Matter?

It's interesting that other conservatives are now realizing what I've known for about 15 years: that Rush Limbaugh is a windbag that is more concerned about boosting his ratings than he is about trying to rebuild the GOP.

But now, that conservatives and liberals are chatting about the rotund radio announcer, I am left wondering something:

Why Does Rush Matter?

Why have so many bloggers spent so much time writing about this guy?

Yes, I know that he seems to hold a big sway over a lot of conservatives. Yes, he made a big speech at CPAC which is the big gathering of movement conservatives. But why have we made Rush and CPAC the be all and end all of American conservatism when they aren't?

Rush's message is a damaging to the GOP- I get it. CPAC is big, it is what made Ronald Reagan. But if Rush is not going to listen to reason and if CPAC is more interested in Joe the Plumber than in trying to build from the ashes, then maybe it's time to start to build a counter movement. Maybe it is time to build a new kind of CPAC that is more inclusive and more focused on solutions than in slogans. Maybe we need to ignore Rush and his blatherings and get our own ideas out in the open.

Think about it: the Democrats created new vehicles to carry their message. Moveon.org used the internet to get the message out. Yearly Kos became the liberal version of CPAC with progressive bloggers coming together to find ways to get the progressive message out there and pick candidates who could win. When the party and ideological apparatus was not responsive, they created their own structures.

It's interesting talking about how conservatism is dead and all that; but I know it is alive in people like David Brooks, David Frum, Reihan Salam, Ross Douthat and others. What it needs are new structures to carry that new message along. Rush won't do it and neither will CPAC or for that matter, Michael Steele and the RNC.

The GOP and American conservatism can survive; it just needs stop focusing on Rush. As Dr. Suess once said: "Those who matter don't mind. Those who mind, don't matter."

Rush Limbaugh doesn't matter.

Gone, Baby, Gone?

"To my friends in the Northeast, get ready, baby, it is time to turn it on and work, and work to do what we always do well - and that is win. We are going to win again in the Northeast. We're going to continue to win in the South. We are going to win with a new storm in the Midwest. And we're going to get to the West, we're going to lock it down, and we're going to win there too."
-Michael Steele, Republican National Committee Chair, January 30, 2009.

Many people see the election of Michael Steele as the start of the GOP revivial. I surely hope so. In his acceptance speech, he talked about winning again in the Northeast. Some have hoped this means running candidates that will win in what was once a GOP bastion. One would hope that is what he is talking about. The GOP has basically become a regional party, having stregth only in the South. The hard line focus on social issues have driven people away from the GOP especially in areas like the Northeast. David Frum highlights a recent poll that shows how GOP support has cratered in Pennsylvania. Frum reads from the Mulhenburg College poll:

As recently as May 2006, the Democrats held a 550,000 person lead in party registration in the Keystone State. By November 2008, that lead had grown to 1,200,000.

Yeah, I bolded that 1.2 million number. So, what is causing the GOP to hemorrage in the Keystone State? Well...

Most described themselves as moderate, 37 percent, or liberal, 27 percent -- an obvious contrast to a party overwhelmingly composed of voters who describe themselves as conservative...

...A strong majority of the switchers, 67 percent, also described themselves as in favor of abortion rights...

...Forty-six percent said they were closer to the Democratic Party on taxes, and 38 percent said they were closer to the Democratic Party's position on issues such as gay marriage and abortion and roughly a third agreed with the statement, "The influence of the religious right on the Republican Party's social positions led me to leave the party."

Now those who listen to Rush Limbaugh probably don't give a hoot about those of us who are moderates. Most will say "good riddance." For them, trying to appease "RINOs" would mean become a weak copy of the GOP.

But that doesn't have to be the case. One would have to assume that a lot of these voters supported the elder Bush and even Reagan. These are not wishy-washy people.

If the Republicans want to win back the Northeast, it means running candidates that fit that region of the country. They need to support candidates that might (horrors of horrors) support abortion rights, or gay rights. Social conservatives can run well in the South, but in areas like the Northeast, candidates need to be more moderate.

The question is if Steele can get the RNC to be more flexible and try to win back those moderate voters. I want to be hopeful, but when a majority of Republicans think Sarah Palin is the future of the GOP, one has to wonder.

Time will tell if he ready to represent in the Northeast and elsewhere, because, baby, this is serious.

Yes, Baby, Yes

I will say more later on Michael Steele's victory to lead the GOP. But it's kind of amazing that the leaders of the two major parties in the United States are led by black men- Barack Obama as the de facto head of the Democrats and now Steele as the dejure head of the Republicans.

Hopefully, this is a good start for the GOP post-Bush. More later.