Appearing on Fox News on Sunday, Michael Steele, who was elected chairman of the Republican Party last week, said of name-calling and the politics of obfuscation: "I don't have time for it." He's obviously not taking advice from Karl Rove.
Steele was an interesting choice for the GOPers. The former lieutenant governor of Maryland and a onetime unsuccessful Senate candidate, he's something of a moderate--in both politics and style. (He supported stem cell research, for instance.) And he made history, becoming the party's first African American chief. But in pulling together some material on Steele, we at Mother Jones came across an interesting contradiction.
When Steele spoke to a mainly African American crowd in February 2008, he praised Obama and said, "I'm very proud to see Barack Obama do what Barack Obama has done and is doing. I am philosophically polar opposites with the man. But it doesn't change the fact that we are from the same community. And it doesn't diminish nor weaken my pride in what he's done." The crowd seemed to appreciate these supportive remarks. See the video:
But at the Republican convention in August, when interviewed by a conservative media outfit, Steele dismissed Obama as "media creation" and a "brand," noting that Obama's success was partly attributed to "a level of white liberal guilt" in the media. Here's that video:
Not much pride here. Can you imagine what might have happened to Steele had he said before that African American crowd that Obama's success had been due to white liberal guilt?
I suppose Steele's ability to spin so dramatically will help him as party chairman. After all, the GOP has to be able to win over reasonable moderates and keep die-hard conservatives in the tent. Steele has demonstrated his willingness and ability to cater to the crowd before him, even if that means flipping his own view. That bodes well for his chairmanship of the Republican Party.
PREMATURE CARTER-IZATION. My pal Sarah Baxter had a piece in The Sunday Times (of London) that begins
Less than two weeks into his administration, President Barack Obama is being portrayed by opponents as a new Jimmy Carter - weak at home and naive abroad - in an attempt to dim his post-election glow and ensure that he serves only one term.
Talk about wishful thinking on the part of GOPers. (The piece quotes AEI neocon Michael Rubin, Peggy Noonan, and a Republican consultant I've never heard of.) Obama is on the move. He has issued executive orders banning torture and setting a shutdown date for Gitmo. He has signed an equal pay measure into law. He will do the same in days with legislation that expands the children's health insurance program. He won a big House vote on his stimulus package--even if no GOPers came along. He will win another vote on the stimulus soon in the Senate. His approval ratings are stratospheric.
Jimmy Carter? Only in the dreams of Republicans. Right now, he's rolling more like Ronald Reagan.
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I reject the opinion of Republicans and like-minded democrats who unfairly represent Jimmy Carter's presidency as unsuccessful. What is your measure of success?
Steele's selection, a black Republican, who is the un-Obama, was to illustrate that you don;t have to be a Democrat to be successful black man in politics. It also insults his criticism. It clearly was not to gain the black vote because no group sniffs out bullshit faster than the black American community.
Steele's duplicity is what we have come to expect of politicians, his skin color does not make it any more or less racial, its political duplicity which you are right to point out.
If Steele could use race, race-baiting or any other technique to divide the electorate and walk away with the bigger half he would, and so would every other Republican.
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Comments
DC,
BHO hasn't even been the prez for two weeks?
The RWNJ's are cracking me right UP!
Thanks!
Posted by: capt
| February 2, 2009 11:31 AM
I reject the opinion of Republicans and like-minded democrats who unfairly represent Jimmy Carter's presidency as unsuccessful. What is your measure of success?
Steele's selection, a black Republican, who is the un-Obama, was to illustrate that you don;t have to be a Democrat to be successful black man in politics. It also insults his criticism. It clearly was not to gain the black vote because no group sniffs out bullshit faster than the black American community.
Steele's duplicity is what we have come to expect of politicians, his skin color does not make it any more or less racial, its political duplicity which you are right to point out.
If Steele could use race, race-baiting or any other technique to divide the electorate and walk away with the bigger half he would, and so would every other Republican.
Posted by: Neil
| February 2, 2009 1:51 PM
""I am philosophically polar opposites with the man. But it doesn't change the fact that we are from the same community.""
...Michael Steele
what community is he referring to?
the black community?
or more likely the chicago mob community.
GO TEAM BUSHco 2.1! (formerly known as team blackbush)
Posted by: as_if!
| February 2, 2009 3:17 PM
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