Maryland GOP: "Broke"

by: Isaac Smith

Wed Jul 22, 2009 at 07:02 PM EDT

"Our Party is broke, and we need your help."

That rather frank admission is included in a new fund-raising solicitation sent out this week by James Pelura, the embattled chairman of the Maryland Republican Party.

Pelura, who has refused to resign despite a no-confidence vote last week by the party's executive committee, writes that he is "honored and humbled to be your Chairman and guide our party to relevancy and victory."

And indeed their financial troubles are severe, as Adam Pagnucco recently noted. While the county organizations are doing fine, the state party has, at last count, only $58 in the bank, and over $57,000 in debt. And that's not including the more than $77,000 the party was recently ordered to pay to Michael Steele's campaign account.

Perhaps the Maryland GOP can qualify for a bailout?

Steele for RNC Chair?

by: Isaac Smith

Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 03:57 PM EST

Oh my:

Fox News is reporting that former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele is interested in running for the chairmanship of the RNC and may announce his candidacy as early as Thursday. Fox further reports that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has issued a statement disavowing interest in the post.

It's worth noting the difference between what's happening with the Republicans now compared with how the Democrats dealt with their loss in 2004. While many in the Democratic establishment tried to put their preferred person in the DNC Chair position, it was clear early on that the momentum was all on the side of Howard Dean, who despite losing his bid for the Democratic nomination for President, had the backing of a grassroots movement that would come to remake the Democratic Party as we know it. Dean's signature policy, the 50 State Strategy, proved to be one of the key elements of the Democratic gains in both 2006 and this year. Dean's selection also marked the turn to the left in much of the Democratic Party, mirroring the public's rejection of conservative governance.

It's hard to see anything comparable in the GOP's current predicament. Despite protests about America still being a "center-right" country, most of the country swung Democratic this past election, and seem to be quite fine with one-party rule in Washington by Democrats, at least for now. Meanwhile, the consensus among Republicans seems to be they lost because they weren't conservative enough, and that a return to the principles of Ronald Reagan is in order. It's a severely wrongheaded view, for reasons I'll discuss in a future post, but the point is that Steele, who appears to be the leading candidate to become RNC Chair, is espousing this consensus view as well, so I don't think there's going to be a serious reexamination among Republicans of conservative ideology in the offing. Steele's main virtue is that he's one of the few in the GOP who recognizes that the Party can't continue to cater to a mostly white, mostly evangelical Christian constituency and still win elections, not with demographics trending in the opposite direction. Whether that message will get through, of course, is another matter.

Michael Steele on Running for Governor

by: Eric Luedtke

Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 08:41 AM EDT

In the midst of a Gazette article about Republicans searching for a candidate for Governor to run in 2010, Michael Steele offered this gem of a quote:

I have plans, I just don't know what they are yet.

Hmm. Michael Steele has planned so thoroughly for his future, he has no idea what he's going to do. Seems like Steele is channeling W. Next he'll be talking about making the pie higher.

Club for Growth Says GOP Only Including Michael Steele in Convention "To Look Diverse"

by: Eric Luedtke

Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 08:37 PM EDT

Ouch.

Club for Growth spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said the group understands that the GOP needs speakers like Lingle, who is female, and Steele, who is black, "to look diverse and all that good P.R. stuff." But she said McCain should also make room for conservatives "on the front lines" of the fight against big government and high taxes.

Mike Steele Fronting for McCain Again

by: Eric Luedtke

Wed Aug 20, 2008 at 08:05 PM EDT

Michael Steele's making an appearance at the Republican Convention. Let's hope some of his candidate karma rubs off on McCain. Maybe he'll bring the puppy on stage with him. Republicans may be on the wrong side of every issue that matters, but at least they can keep up their pro-puppy stance.

Oh, and in a fit of unintended irony that would make Jonathan Swift's head explode, the theme that has been chosen for the Republican Conventions is: "Peace, Prosperity, and Reform."

Michael Steele Gets it Half Right

by: Eric Luedtke

Thu Aug 14, 2008 at 06:53 AM EDT

Michael Steele, at a well-heeled Republican fundraiser in Potomac:

"We got to Washington and got fat, lazy and greedy. Misbehaving and not trusting the vote of the people. Not trusting their instincts," he said. "Keep in mind people do not reject the values that we hold on to and believe in...What they rejected was our misbehavior. What they've rejected was our failure to lead."

People don't reject Republican values? No, of course not. Everybody likes the Iraq War, and the fact that it was fought over a pack of lies. They love the fact that the Bush administration has run the economy into the ground. And they're big supporters of big tax breaks for big oil and big Republican donors. Not to mention the deep and abiding love the American people have for the destruction of civil liberties over the last ten years. Yeah, Mike, your only problem is Duke Cunningham, Ted Stevens, and their ilk.

Michael Steele - At Least He's Realistic...

by: Eric Luedtke

Wed Jul 16, 2008 at 10:20 PM EDT

Michael Steele, after accompanying John McCain to the NAACP convention:

You've got to live in the real. Barack Obama is going to take more than the lion's share of the black vote. But that doesn't and has not stopped John McCain from competing for that vote.

And, of course, the talking heads have been jabbering about why Steele accompanied McCain. I think it's because McCain knew he had no chance in hell of convincing anyone there to vote against the first black President, so he vainly hoped Michael Steele might be able to peel off a vote or two. Of course, we saw how popular Steele is with black voters two years ago. The pundits, however, thought he might be a possible veep pick. That is, until Hotline pointed out the obvious: Steele's history demonstrates a certain lack of what you might call... a successful career. Until he found his way onto the Republican fundraising circuit.

Quote of the Day

by: Isaac Smith

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 11:04 PM EDT

Michael Steele, at a fundraiser for Andy Harris:

It’s important work, its hard work. Particularly in this climate, in which the Republican brand quite frankly sucks... I mean it stinks, it’s ugly, it’s painful, but in all that I see opportunity.

Steele for Veep? Yes, Please

by: Isaac Smith

Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:35 AM EDT

David Brinkley suggests an easy way for John McCain to lose the presidential race:

Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley (R-New Market) said former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele “should be on the top” of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) list of potential vice presidential selections.

“There are a lot of names being floated about,” Brinkley told PolitickerMD.com, adding, “Michael would be a good choice.”

Brinkley called Steele “an excellent lieutenant governor,” and said he understands “the concerns of the black community,” and “brings a perspective on race.”

Citing his experience “traveling the globe,” and his bachelor’s degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University, Brinkley said Steele is a “very attractive candidate.”

Brinkley must have forgotten to mention also Steele's encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek.

We Are Borg

by: Isaac Smith

Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 03:00 PM EST

Via David Lublin, Michael Steele has decided to take a break from his current job as a failed politician to dabble in the fine art of relating politics to Star Trek:

In addition, Steele compared Democrats to the Borg, a fictional race of half-human, half-cyborg creatures from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The Borg were known for rapidly adapting to any tactic used by humans to defeat them, as well as assimilating any new species they encountered for their encountered. The Borg's slogan was this: "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

So here's how Steele thinks Democrats are like the Borg: "In 1994, we killed the Borg, I mean the Democrats. What did they do? They adapted."

Steele added that he wanted the GOP "to focus on defeating the Borg" next year.

Wait, it gets better. If the Democrats are the Borg, then Republicans must be the Federation. But the Federation, as we learn from one of the Klingon characters in Star Trek VI, is a "homo-sapiens-only club" -- clearly a reference to the GOP's melanin problem. Are African-Americans, then, the Klingons? But if that's so, then why does Lt. Worf say to the Borgified Jean-Luc Picard in one episode of ST:TNG that "the Klingon Empire will never yield" to the Borg/Democrat collective? Could it be that Worf is actually... Michael Steele? The mind reels.