Two years ago, the GOP was reeling from two brutal elections and a seeming eternity in the minority. As they gather for their annual winter meeting this year they have control of one chamber of Congress and are within striking distance of the other. That will not save, it seems, Chairman Michael Steele whose tenure was marked with gaffs …
michael steele
GOP Steel(e)s For An Ugly RNC Race
On paper, Michael Steele should be a shoo-in for reelection as chairman of the Republican National Committee. He presided over the Party’s return from political Siberia as President Obama entered the White House in early 2009 to massive victories in the 2010 midterm elections. Under Steele, the GOP first won gubernatorial victories in …
Health Care Reform Sentiment – Beyond Missouri
Today, Republicans are celebrating the fact that Missouri voters just overwhelmingly approved a state anti-health reform ballot initiative. The measure, which says Missouri residents can’t be required to maintain health insurance, is largely symbolic since federal law trumps state law. There was almost no organized opposition to the …
Building Immunity to Iocane Powder
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIRmkef2wZo]
NBC’s First Read has found a videotape of RNC Chairman Michael Steele at a Connecticut fundraiser (above). The audio’s not great but in it Steele seems to suggest that President Obama is responsible for the war in Afghanistan. “Keep in mind again, this was a war of Obama’s …
Out of the Spotlight and Into the Margins
Ben Smith has nabbed a letter from some wealthy Republican donors urging others to send money to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Smith notes, rightly, that this is further evidence that although RNC Chair Michael Steele is no longer in the spotlight as a liability to the party, he’s still being marginalized – in an election …
Marshalled Opposition
Updated, see below.
Jay has a bit of RNC chair Michael Steele’s skeptical response to Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination, but there’s another facet in the full statement. He implicitly criticizes Kagan for her relationship with Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked early in her career (emphasis mine):
Given Kagan’s opposition to
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Michael Steele, Living Large
The Daily Caller examines the Republican National Committee’s FEC filings, and discovers a few things that are not likely to go over well with GOP donors. Such as:
Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel,
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A GOP Silver Lining
The passage of health care reform hasn’t been easy for the GOP. But there is a silver lining (though, some Republicans might argue that encouraging their party chairman is not exactly in the Party’s best interests): Michael Steele has finally figured out a way to raise money. The RNC’s webite, www.firenancypelosi.com, which depicts the …
Steele Looks to Scare Some Donors, Actually He Already Does
Politico got an exclusive look inside the Republican National Committee’s fundraising scheme for the rest of the year. It seems chairman Michael Steele is going to try and scare donors into giving him cash by fear-mongering about the “socialist” government President Obama will usher in without their help to oppose him. I would say …
Michael Steele, Liz Cheney and the Carnival of Buncombe
National politics is a circus, a carnival, a battlefield, a 24-7-Drudge-Cable-Politico mudfest–and yet still, somehow, serious adults find a way to run the stuff.
Think about the terribly boring suits in the Congressional leadership, on K Street or in the best White House offices. It has always been thus. Think too about the past …
Can Republicans Snatch Defeat From Victory In 2010?
All signs should be pointing up for the GOP. They are the out-party at a time of serious economic woes–85,000 more jobs were shed in December and 661,000 people, or about as many people as live in Baltimore, gave up looking for work. Polls show rising enthusiasm among conservative voters and falling enthusiasm among Democratic voters. …
Oops. Guess Whose Health Insurance Covers Abortion?
Or did, until Politico reported it. The Republican National Committee issued this statement late last night:
News reports have revealed that the RNC’s health plan dating back as far as 1991 may have included some coverage for elective abortion. Upon learning of this, Chairman Michael Steele instructed the RNC Director of
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Health Care and the GOP
I’m guessing that the word “experiment” was pretty effective with the focus groups:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAnpL752syM&hl=en&fs=1&]
(Via our friends at C-SPAN)