Re: Steele’s Take…

Has not David Frum’s opinions been banished also after the critical Newsweek article? After all we are talking about the tent of freedom here.

David Frum? What’s next? Will Karen Tumulty dutifully quote the Washington press corps’ latest darling, the “Republican” (i.e., non-Republican) Meghan “I voted for Kerry and Al Gore” McCain?

As a Democrat – and a fairly liberal one, at that – I’m excited to see that not only is my party’s tent growing, but also that the Dems are willing to accept dissenting views and former adversaries into the fold. If the Republicans keep drumming out moderates and those with varying views on the party platform, they’re going to have absolutely zero members in Congress. The Republican party’s gonna be Rush Limbaugh and about 7 people in Georgia. And while Rush may have a megaphone, the real power is still in policy and legislation. And for the foreseeable future, it looks like Dems will have the power.

I’d like to take this moment to thank textee and others like him:
Your efforts to further marginalize and purify the GOP into an ineffectual batch of crazies from the deep south and southwest are much appreciated.
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Oh, fyi, most of us can figure out scare quotes; the explanation is not necessary.

Why is Frum so upset about this? The Republican Party is an organization comprised of individuals who are free to make their own decisions based on their values, beliefs, and – one would hope – objective facts. I call that Democracy.
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The individuals who vote Republican, and their leaders like Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh, have decided that to belong to their club one needs to cleave to a certain set of policy positions. Specter didn’t like those positions, voted against them, and found that he was not going to get reelected as a leader of the Republican Party. So he left one Party for another. I call that Democracy (and blatant opportunism).
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The only people who should be upset are the Democratic voters in the State of Pennsylvania. Ed Rendell and Specter have conspired to essentially rig an election by using the power of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania to warn off any serious challenges to Specter. Actively working to shield a politician from being accountable to voters is the exact opposite of Democracy. In fact, I’d call in Tyranny.
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It will be interesting to see how smug the old-school hacks in the Democratic Party will be if Tom Ridge jumps into this race. We’ve already seen how well Rendell did at delivering Pennsylvania for Hillary. We may get to see another example of how well the Democratic Party functions when its “leaders” decide to fix elections rather then letting the voters decide who their leaders should be.

See textee, that’s what I’m talkin’ about. As long as you true believers keep trying to drum out people you disagree with and paint them as “non-Republicans,” you’re not gonna have anyone left. Let’s see . . . Republicans don’t like the following:
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Gays
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Mexicans
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Blacks
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People Who Live in Big Cities
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Union Members
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Immigrants in General
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People with Advanced Degrees
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Women
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Muslims
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College Students
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People Who Collect Social Security
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People Who Work for the Government
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Lawyers
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The list goes on . . .
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So once all of those groups are gone, who’s gonna help your side win elections?

I would love to see the GOP go the way of the Whigs, and the Democrats split into, say, the Blue Democrats and the Democrat Socialist Party. But then I remember that Karl Rove thought he had achieved a permanent Republican majority.
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It’s too soon to call the GOP DOA. They will come to their senses eventually. I’m hoping they resurrect themselve as pragmatic conservatives. Of course me giving the GOP advice is like Bill Kristol giving campaign advice to Obama.

vastwastelander — don’t forget part-time workers now eligible for unemployment

vastwastelander: People who live near active volcanoes.

choska, I’ll be intrigued to see some polling about how PA residents (such as my self) react to Specter’s change. The conventional wisdom has been the Specter could not win the primary but could win the general. If that’s a correct assessment (and I think it is) there’s not going to be too much outrage in PA.

Art & Dee – You’re right, I forgot two important constituencies.

I should add “Those Who Want Government Help Escaping Hurricanes”

… Working scientists. (A relative of mine is a researcher, and hardly a flaming liberal, but hated Bush for this reason.)

Also: Community Organizers

They don’t trust a black man with the money
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/29/rnc-divide-grows-over-finance-battle/
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Honestly I would necessarily trust Steele either but thats teh message that this move seems to send and the one I would be promoting if I was head of the DNC.

Art — just keep in mind one fundamental difference: Rove proclaimed himself the architect of the permanent GOP majority based on catering to the base to the exclusion of everyone else. However he neglected to consider that his base was a majority of the electorate not a majority of the eligible citizenry. When they chose to cater to an extreme agenda, citizens not normally engaged in the process awoke to rebel against the conservative agenda and changed the political landscape, rendering their side unable to constitute a majority of the electorate.
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Now, to be fair this is not just the fault of Karl Rove, by definition this is the inherent failure of conservatism. If your ideology is based on thwarting change, then the likelihood that you will incorporate change into your strategic equation is slim to none.

The GOP will probably reform itself under the banner of an emergent, charismatic, reasonable leader who can effectively sell true conservative policies to the public. Forget the cognitive dissonance embodied in smaller government/warrantless wiretapping, strong national defense/overstretched military, free market/government bailouts. Forget the knee-jerk cries of socialism from the old guard and the annoying self-righteousness of the evangelicals. The new Republican leader will strike with logic and common sense.
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When will he arrive? Soon, I hope. Soon.

Dee – very true. It’s why liberals (i.e., Progressives) will usually win in the long run. As long as time is linear, our world inevitably progresses, and attempts to block that forward movement will usually fail. Tradition is great, but traditions tend to erode over time . . . and Republicans try to win WAY too many arguments by falling back on “but that’s tradition.” Fiscal conservatism is morally defensible; bigoted, exclusionary tripe is not. So as long as the later is part of their platform, time will not be kind to them.

Yoshi – I’d welcome that day. If the Dems can’y win a battle of logic and common sense, then they (we) deserve to lose. It’s losing to the irrational, idiotic, xenophobic, fear-mongering, reactionary morons I can’t stand.

For example: I could have tolerated John McCain in the White House. Sarah Palin, not so much.

SG — damn!!!!!!!
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I mean this was a common practice in corporate America to give the black guy the promotion to the head of the department, while forcing him to get a signature from a white supervisor to make any expenditures, while none of the other managers on his line of the flowchart are forced to do so. And was one of the more common themes you would hear in networking venting sessions among blacks, especially black men.
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If they do this to Steele he needs to all the out for it and then walk, taking any blacks left in the party with him. Now I know we don’t want him in our tent in any king of elected capacity, but we should welcome him to at least change his registration just for the photo-op.

I quote JenJen, one of my favorite commentors over at “Balloon Juice”(“Consistently Wrong Since 2002)
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=20472:

“Ouch, GOP! Something tells me the Tea Parties are giving you kids a false sense that a “movement” is brewing, and this misguided sense is going to push the party even further out of the mainstream. I predict the 2012 GOP Nominee will be the Mayor of Crazytown.”

On the science battle: The way the Administration dealt with global warming is a problem, and the shadowy rumors surrounding the last incarnation of the FDA were somewhat distressing, but there is a real danger in demonizing people who move with ethical concern in regulating stem-cell research.
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A number of posters beat down on Amy for her recent stereotypical commentary on Obama’s scientific address. But when scientists demand to go ahead harvesting embryonic stem cells with the justification that they need to explore all avenues, some rightly perceive that science wants to brush aside further debate over its ethics.

wastelander:
I can empathize with that. Perhaps not all the Palin-bashing, because she suddenly gained about a hundred IQ points after the campaign, but with the general dislike of the “hardcore” right and its cherished stereotypes and fears. In particular, the sentiments expressed by some posters under this blog post:
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http://hotair.com/archives/2009/04/28/maybe-russia-needs-a-truth-commission/
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Reading the link was horrifying enough, but the reactions of some to the barbarism was even worse. That is not how a professional military conducts itself, and I would bet that most of the saber-rattling came from individuals who have never served. Disgusting.

yoshi–I think the only hope “real” conservatives have is to find another label.
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The “right” has made it a point to turn “liberal” into a derogative term, and to some extent this has been successful. However, thanks to Dubya and his bandwagon “conservative” has been hijacked and poisoned into meaning big government borrow-and-spend, with-us-or-against-us imperialism. Sad, but true–at least for another decade or so.
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Smart rebranding/marketing is only part of the solution, however–they really have to stick to their statements and, of course, not appear to go bat$#1t crazy over every little thing.

Hammerlock: yes, in my opinion, the party’s current ills are a direct consequence of wholesale demonization. Branding McCain as a RINO so many close their wallets and stay home on the day that counts. McCain flailing about with character accusations. The irresponsible, wanton use of the word “socialism.” People get tired of it after a while.
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At some point, the general public is going to recognize that the GOP is not made up of Bachmanns upon Bachmanns, but certain individuals (looking at you, Newt) can’t stop breaking out in rashes every time Obama even lifts a finger. It’s difficult.
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They aren’t the only ones responsible, though. The media will always jump on a Bachmann. KT’s C-SPAN posts are a prime example. Eventually, when Republicans cry wolf over something legitimate, like the language in the DHS report, nobody will take them seriously because of efforts like these. It’s already happening.
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I would cite Joe Klein’s sniffing elitism as an example, as well, but I’m not sure anybody takes him seriously.

Sorry yoshi but you’re wrong to think that the public is going to see through the crazies to the reasonable heart of the Republican Party, or Conservatives or any new label you come up with or rebrand as long as the current crop fails to denounce the crazies, and this includes some of your supposed main stream people that have espoused some pretty out there views, as passionately as they denounce the other side.

I hope yoshi is right. I’m all for sane Republicans. I even know a few. We need an effective oppsition party if nothing else to insure that all those winger fears about the Obama administration buying power with Federal dollars doesn’t actually become a real danger. But an opposition that’s based on nothing but opposition and the hope of doubling down the worst policy decisions across the last 50 years is not the answer. The only question in my mind is who’ll get to keep the Republican brand name, The Steele’s or the Frum’s?

Its a chicken-and-egg issue. The vocal portions of the GOP are solidly in the wingnut camp at the moment, so Bachmann is seen as the norm, not the exception–and any congress critter that says the insane stuff she does deserves to get the spotlight on them so people can see the crazy for themselves.
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Any GOP member who attempts to distance themselves from the extremist pundits/”entertainers” and try to engage in nuanced discourse gets labeled as a RINO or worse. Reagan’s 11th commandment is dead, but not in the good way (that being where people put the country first and not party first).
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The fiscal conservatives and small government Paulites need to do some soul searching. If they cannot oust the neocons from power even now when the GOP is near a nadir then they should form a new party to accept those with their values. Allowing the neocons to run roughshod over their values–while relying on their votes–is just inviting more of the same and continuing the death spiral.

yoshi:
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The hope that the American people would see the true GOP by looking past your entertainers is something they already relied upon. That was the actual purpose of the dogwhistle hatred that they depended on to keep their base energized while at the same time appealing to the average American.
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The election of Obama has broken down that schizoid gulf that separates the hard right from the moderates. Snowe has made what I consider a very harsh statement concerning the GOP and the current situation:
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http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/29/snowe-moderate-republicans-like-survivor-cast-members/
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I think, yoshi, rather than hope people see through it, and I am glad they don’t any more, maybe you would be better off looking at your parties ‘heroes’ and asking some questions:
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Is their commentary in keeping with the moral standards that seperate those with integrity from those who don’t?
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Do their actions fit their commentary (this is the core schizoid dichotomy I’ve seen for the past 30 years).
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I could think of others, but I think that that is enough to justify the purging of the extreme right wing from your party.
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Those people are a step short of fascism right now.

It’s my opinion that things like smaller government, lower taxes, and less government intrusion into free market and personal spheres are legitimate counterbalances, and have their place in the political world.
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There is, however, a time and a place for everything.
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What has happened with some of the GOPs’ major figures is that they have ventured as close to the first amendment envolope in order to keep thier base energized by anger, not reason.
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It was the responsibility of the GOP, years ago, to recognize this and distance themselves from these people. They instead tried to coddle them and, in order to accomodate them (and their followers), adapt the two track discourse that was so obvious during the campaign.
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The GOP has refused to face their responsibility to police their own, and are now paying the price.

yoshi,

I appreciate your comments. The problem is the Republican party has allowed loud mouth yahoos become the public face of their party. With all due respect to Rush Limbaugh, when your party is having a debate on whether this man is the “leader” of your party, you are having problems. (You don’t see the Demorats having the same problem regarding Michael Moore.)

The problem is the schizophrenia of the Republican party has been exposed after being covered for so many years. Your fiscal conservatives philosophy runs counter to that of social conversatives. What social conservatives want requires more government in people’s personal lives, not less. While you had the Cold War, these two sides could be united for their anti-Communist stance. However, with no external enemy (not even terrorism) these two sides have had to confront each other.

The Republican Party is not dead, but it has to decide what it wants. Whenever they have emphasized small government, individual freedom and fiscal responsibility, they have done well in the long run. When they have emphasized abortion, gay marriage, Terry Schivo and the like, they pump up the “base”, but lose middle America. They need to offer new and different alternatives to the Obama plan and not just say, “No”.

Here in PA we have our own version of Michele Bachman, a lady by the name of Peg Luksik, and she is running for the Senate. She is to the right of Pat Toomey, or at least for the moment, anyway. I think the winner of that contest will be the first one who proposes that we nuke France just because we can. I heard Peg on the local Philly NPR affiliate this AM blathering on about how Arlen has always allied himself with the most “radical elements” of the Democratic Party, blah, blah, blah. That’s right, amigos, according to one of the Commonwealth’s most prominent GOP politicians, Arlen Specter is really right next to Leon Trotsky on the political spectrum. And they expect us to take them seriously….

John McCain is facing a challenge from his right, from a guy in the Minutemen (sounds like a sexual problem to me, but I digress)…John Freakin’ McCain! John isnt a moderate, he’s a rightie, and he’s not passing the test, apparently (I hope for the love of Mike he wins his primary!)

Regarding Michael Steel and finances. Mr Steele has some open questions regarding the financial situation of his US Senate race in Maryland. Perhaps the RNC is just being prudent
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/06/ST2009020604202.html