via Think Progress -- Michael Steele Takes On Palin, Limbaugh: ‘Your Opinion Really Doesn’t Matter Much’ RNC Chairman Michael Steele endorsed moderate Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (R-NY) in the NY-23 special election before national conservative leaders — like Dick Armey, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin — forced Scozzafava out in favor of right-wing candidate Doug Hoffman. Following Hoffman’s defeat, Steele struck back at firebrands within his party, telling reporters earlier today that the opinion of conservative outsiders “really doesn’t matter much”: Later this afternoon, CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked Steele specifically about outsiders like Palin and Limbaugh, who loudly pushed the nominated Republican Scozzafava out of the race. Steele affirmed that he “hopes” those right-wing voices do not continue to meddle in Republican primaries: --------------- Steele throwin' it down and callin' em' out! You go boy! This is really the most interesting thing to follow these days in politics. The fight for the direction of the Republican party.
haha STEELE: If you don’t live in the district, don’t vote there, your opinion really doesn’t matter much. ... RNC Chairman Michael Steele endorsed moderate Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (R-NY) in the NY-23 special election I assume Steele does not live in NY-23.
lol. The same Steele who just a few months ago kissed Rush's ass on the national stage? What an idiot. He's just plain clueless.
If Steele goes crying back to Rush AGAIN then he is not doing his job. The point is getting republicans in office regardless how moderate or extreme they are. I read that 95% of all campaign funds for Hoffman came from outside his district. The fact that neither candidate won just goes to show how out of touch with reality the party is. It would rather kick somebody to the curb that isn't "conservative" enough than win. It would rather organize some silly rally around the "Obama is an African Shaman" poster... oops I mean Tea party than try to offer up alternatives without a giant middle finger to people across the isle. And some still want to argue that Limbaugh is just an entertainer...
If Steele shows some guts with Limbaugh and the nutcases, I will gain some respect for him, even after his pathetic rump-kissing a couple of months ago. But my read on Michael Steele is that he's a survivor whose main goal is to save his own skin. He will hang onto his job until the 2010 mid-terms and then the party will render a verdict on him. If they are going to cut him loose before then, it better happen quickly because the 2010 campaign starts soon.
There are two ways that the Republican Party could reasonably decide to go. 1. Conservative at the core (Conservatives make up 40% of American voters, per this Gallop poll), but inclusive at the fringes of more moderate candidates (such as the Maine Senators Snowe and Collins) or more libertarian candidates (such as Ron Paul). 2. Leaning toward moderation at the core, adopting certain popular elements of the "progressive" agenda in an effort to win the support of more left-leaning voters and tolerating conservatives as the fringe. This is what was tried during the latter part of the Bush Administration. Do I even have to say it? With 40% of the electorate being conservative, conservatives control the Republican party. They passively stood by while certain well meaning Republican politicians, including George W. Bush and Tom Delay, led the Republican party to embrace certain progressive spending and entitlement policies. This clearly compromised the values that Republicans ran on in 1994 and shortly thereafter. The Republican party lost its way, and then they lost at the ballot box. And as well they should have. Without its conservative values, the Republican party is nothing. It is the Republican party's conservative values that propelled them into full control of the government, and the discarding of these values that caused them to be thrown out. Know for certain that conservatives know this full well. There is no longer any speculation or disagreement on this point by conservatives. Certain "moderate" Republicans might disagree, but from now on, conservatives will call most of the shots, and will drive the agenda and the platform of the Republican party. Not the Democrat-lite "moderate" Republicans. Not any more.
The real battle in the GOP is the libertarian wing vs. the god-guns-gays crowd. Not the "Dem-lite" Republicans vs. "Conservative" Republicans... that was a passing fancy IMO.
According to the last national election results people don't vote the extreme right. That kind of divisiveness is what the people are sick of. It worked against the Dems in NJ where the Democratic candidate ran a shabby divisive campaign. If the GOP wants to be more like Palin, Bachman, and Hoffman, they are free to do it. The Dems would love for that to happen.
The problem is that "conservative" is a fairly generic term. As Donny pointed out, there's a huge difference between conservative on fiscal issues and conservative on social issues. And while there's overlap there, there's also a huge amount of tension and dislike, as you saw with McCain - the fiscal conservative - who was hated by half the party and Palin/Huckabee - the social conservative - who's hated by the other half. The attempt to merge the two was a total disaster. The GOP has to decide what's really important to them: social issues or fiscal issues. And on that fight, they've really made no progress.
I do not know what "extreme right" means in your view. But conservatives make up 40% of the electorate, and they tend to vote based on their principles. Adopting progressive policies was a disaster for the Republicans under Bush and Delay. They started encouraging the use of earmarks and huge amounts of pork barrel spending. They passed a number of initiatives that substantially expanded the role of government in people's lives. After watching the Republicans do all of that, Barack Obama and the Democrat felt empowered and encouraged to do it all the more once they gained power. And now government spending is truly out of control. Conservatives clearly have the power to control the Republican party. After what happened yesterday and over the last eight years or so, everyone should expect the conservatives to take a much more hands-on role within the Republican party. Moderates will continue to be included and encouraged to run as Republicans. But intra-party efforts by some moderates to marginalize conservative candidates while proactively promoting moderate candidates is a non-starter. The good thing is, this is what primaries are for. All the Republican candidates can run against each other in the primary, and let the best person win. This race in NY 23 was unusual in that it was a special election, and the local party bosses in the district just chose a candidate as the Republican nominee in the race, and that was that. We are unlikely to see many more incidents like that going forward.
Mojo Man: When you say "conservative," do you mean fiscal conservative or social conservative? Or do you still favor a coalition of both?
