^^^^^ Colin Powell was indeed popular before/during the 1996 election, but he was/would have been a single issue/reputation (Desert Storm) candidate. He had great name recognition & positive id, but he dropped out of contention (after plugging his then-book) before the primaries. The same thing would have happened to him in the scrum of the primaries as happened to Giuliani in 2008. Big name recognition, but the further the GOP voters dug into his moderate stances the less chance he would've had. The Limbaugh/conservative base of the party in 1996 wold have torn him apart, just as surely as they did in 2008, post-Obama endorsement. (And the GOP has only grown more conservative since then, as moderates have been voted/primaried out of the party.) -- The interview is up now at GQ . In addition to his utter confusion over the parameters of the abortion debate, wading right into the minefield of verbiage that hasn't really changed in decades ("individual choice," etc.), I especially enjoy this exchange: He doesn't get the reporter's opening joke, cites P. Diddy as the pinnacle of hip-hop, claims Grandmaster "The Message" Flash isn't hip hop, name checks Chuck D[!], then in the next breath cites the "Pack Rat" crooners as hip hop. Later: Steele would tell Obama, "Let's work together." Then he blames that not happening on Democrats not being bipartisan enough. Then, Steele immediately claims bipartisanship doesn't and can't work, because politics is zero sum: "Your winning is my losing." Then, he immediately contradicts himself again by claiming that they would find "common ground," that he'd be willing to sacrifice, and describes how compromise could be achieved. This is like a Laurel & Hardy back and forth, but it's just one guy. He later refers to the Bush administration / GOP and its handling of minorities as "missing the boat," ignoring the image of Katrina that brings to mind. Also: I'm sure, those are "concerns people have." He can't remember if he voted for Jimmy Carter, the president most demonized by modern conservative commentators? This is not credible. On Michelle Obama: "Oh, I lo— [stops himself] I think she’s doing great so far. But the inaugural dress, I wasn’t feelin’ that." This guy either needs to re-enroll in the seminary, or get his own reality show. Either/or.
^^^Holy Ker-Moly. How in the heck did this man aquire any power? I think that's the first time I have read something on here and literally had my jaw drop.
This is what it looks like when an empty suit is put in a high pressure, high profile position. Republicans got used to placing incompetents into positions of great responsibility when they controlled the government because their f-ups could be obscured for years, unless they were historic- like Katrina and Iraq. Now that they are out of power, they have no margin for error in picking someone to head an organization like the RNC and so Steele's bumbling is under a spotlight.
It's clear reading back through this interview, combined with his tv apperances, that Lt. Governor / failed Senate candidate was Steele's ceiling, that if there is such a thing as a political Peter principle Michael Steele is its poster boy. In fairness, he was definitely the better choice over his whites-only country club member opponent, even if it took six ballots for the party to decide this. It's like he realizes what he should say (a combination of what is politically correct / what his party platform actually dictates) only after he's answered half the question already, so he has to backtrack and take long pauses to defuse what's already been said. The gay rights and abortion answers appear to contradict his own former policy positions, notwithstanding the GOP's platform. On attracting minorities to the GOP: By force? On criticism: Two jokes about beating people up who disagree with him? Michael Steele, miracle child: MacBeth lives! Sweet! Party identification, parental influence on: Someone please explain to me how this makes any sense, whatsoever. On training to join the priesthood: He brags he had a bit of a reputation, but didn't date much, preferred instead to "let his hair down"? If I'm reading this correctly, he went to seminary with people or priests he thought might be pedophiles, and believed it was okay to inform only his novice master? The priesthood is a "very safe closet to go to and hide who you really were, what you really felt." Doesn't this statement beg a follow up?
On Earth, this may be hard for you to believe: My brother is a very well-connected Dem who has a lot of Republican friends. If Powell had run for the nomination, the hard right would have destroyed him and left his carcass for dead. This is what his wife feared. She was scared of Dems too, of course, but the attacks from the right flank were the main concern. Like Rudy last year, the right would have "scorched the Earth" to prevent Powell from getting the nomination. And it would have worked. You should know the pre-primary polls don't mean pffft and actually running in the primaries and winning is a completely different story. The admiration you speak of is fine and dandy, but it wouldn't have translated into the nomination. I would like to think the GOP is as open-minded as you say, but it isn't. This is why the Dems are winning the center. The Republican party will eventually change down the line but nobody knows how long that will take.
It's called the Peter Principal. Steele, like basso's hero, George W. Bush, rose to his level of incompetency. It happens.
I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Republican activist yesterday about Steele and he made the point that ideology matters less for party chair than one might think. Consider that Howard Dean ideologically is very liberal yet that didn't stop him from recruiting relatively conservative candidates like Ford, Schuler and Webb. In the case of Steele the Republicans are doing some soul searching and looking to him not so much as an ideological leader but as someone who they think can building a new Republican coalition.
Maybe Steele has been charged with making Palin interviews look coherent and intelligent, while making Jindal look like an excellent, elevated orator.
While I understand your point, Sishir, Dean also happens to be very, very smart. One could even say brilliant. I don't think Steele falls under that category. Smart, of course, but certainly not brilliant, IMO, and definitely unsuited for this position. I hope the GOP keeps him!
Where are ya'll getting that he's pro-choice? He has that snippet where he doesn't make any sense, but then he clarifies -- abortion should be decided by the states. That's a standard Republican position. If he's a closet pro-choicer, it really doesn't matter.
Party politics by definition require ideology. Ideologies require convictions so idealogs can not be free thinkers. Really intelligent people know that they don't really know. So the dumbasses end up in charge of party politics
Yeah he said it should be decided by the states, but he also said that he thinks that women have the right to decide whether or not to have an abortion. That's a pretty big deal to the right wingers. I'm pro-choice and if I was under the opinion that it is issue that should be decided by the states, I would hope that every state kept abortion legal. According to that interview, Steele would feel the same way.
Rumors are swirling hard that the RNC might offer the job to Norm Coleman as soon as he concedes the election in MN. LOL!!!!!
