the purity of his views; the unfair media attacks; the wrongful acceptance of the medialib narrative, etc. I have written one defense last week and will do another in more detail this week on the ADA and the Civil Rights Act. Paul is so obviously not racist that the media and timid republicans look silly.

and for him to intimate and or call anyone racist is a JOKE to me!

or any times. Steele’s that is.

He said he had a philosophical difference with Paul, he discussed it with him and Paul and Steele are mostly in agreement. If you want to keep the Republican Party contained to the South, keep it up with your southern thin-skinned, sensibilities. Steele at least is consistent in going along with each state picking who represents their culture best. Paul apparently, is perfect for Kentucky.

was speaking his libertarian view of freedom and liberty for everyone. When he said that businesses should be allowed to serve anyone they wish to, he didn’t say that only whites should be allowed to serve only those they wish, he said that every race should be allowed to serve who they wish, no matter the color of the business owner, or the color of those he serves. There was no way he was being prejudice to any race. The same applies to gays, religions or everything else under the sun. But, his statements were easy to misconstrue, and misstate. When many have to come out and try to explain what you really said, it should not have been said, in the way it was said. Hopefully he will learn from that. I am not a Paul supporter, and I have said that, but, since he is the candidate, I would support him over any D candidate.

Many, many are saying that this was a “rookie” mistake. I will also point out Achance’s position, go where you know your best support and audience will be. I am sorry to see that he even accepted a slot on David Liberal Gregory’s Meet the Depressed show. I am not sorry he canceled. He is currently in a position where Palin was with Couric and Gibson. Hopefully he has learned that terrible lesson. He may very well have had the right position on the Civil Rights Act, but, he needs to learn how to deflect those questions from the media. Today Wallace asked Ginny Thomas if she supported Kagan, she said she didn’t have any position on her, but thank you for asking the question. I know it’s different for a candidate, but the deflection rule/law should be well observed.

I think Steele is in the race baiting business, particularly with his visit to Al Sharpton’s group. He’s made many faux paus, including saying that he understand’s how Obama feels as a black man, or some similar statement. I personally believe that Steele got the nod because of his race. He got the nod because of his past win in Maryland, he was “electable” and to some, only the win makes the man, plus backroom dealing. I hate the politics of supporting only those that can “win”, it sucks. As proven, a year ago Rubio couldn’t “win.” The Republican party wouldn’t be in the leadership vacuum it is in if the backroom deals weren’t made, and Ken Blackwell was elected. Not because he was a black man, but, because he had the best laid out plan/strategy for the Republicans. I couldn’t even imagine where we would be at this point had the people, rather than the dealmakers made the choice for our RNC head. Steele totally embarasses me, just as our current Citizen of the World, Wannabe Dictator does.

Maybe I should have titled this comment “RNC Chairman Coldwarrior.”

Or, maybe, RNC Chairman [fill in your name].

Regardless, here are the big questions.

Are you qualified to cast a vote for who becomes the next RNC Chairman? Have you read “the directions?” The RNC Rules? Your state Republican Party rules/bylaws? Think of what our forbears went through to secure our liberties. The Revolution. The Civil War. WW I. WW II. Etc. Have you even read the RNC Rules? It’s not like they’re hard to find. We have the internet.

“When all else fails, read the directions.”

(I wanted to make this a Diary, but a glitch in the Redstate software prevents my Diaries from having a Recommend button. I assume it is a glitch. Maybe a conspiracy. No matter. Until the glitch is fixed/the conspiracy exposed, I’ll post the info here as a comment in hopes that, maybe, if you find this information worthy, you will promote it.)

Wanna have a vote on who takes Michael Steele’s spot? Then you have to become – you guessed it – a precinct committeeman — at least in AZ

Do you want to replace Michael Steele at the next regularly scheduled vote for the RNC chair? Want to have a vote in that process? Then you’ve got to become a precinct committeemen in your state.

“When all else fails, read the directions.”

Let’s start with the Rules of the Republican National Committee. Ever read them? I thought so.

Per Rule 1 (a), the members of the RNC consist of the national committeemen and committeewomen, one of each from each state Republican Party, and the chair of the state Republican Party of each state.

Who is eligible to be a member of the RNC? For that we must look at Rule 5 (a) (1): “A chairman and a co-chairman of the opposite sex . . . shall be elected by the members of the Republican National Committee.” So, if ya wanna vote to replace Michael Steele, you have to become a member of the RNC. (It gets better — bear with me.)

How does one become a member of the RNC? Well, as already explained, you have to either be the chair of a state Republican Party or one of the national committeemen or committeewomen. You have to look at Rule 2, which basically says each state Republican Party can set its own rules for electing the national committeeman and committeewoman and if they don’t have such rules, other rules kick in. And, as already explained, the state Republican Party chairman of each state automatically serves as a member of the RNC.

“When all else fails, read the directions.”

Gee, wouldn’t it be great if the RNC explained all this? You know, sort of a “how to become a precinct committeeman and why that’s important and how it can actually have an impact on who gets elected to the leadership positions within the Republican Party” online guide? I’ve looked for one on the net. Can’t find one. Can’t even find a layman’s explanation of all this on the www.gop.com site.

But I don’t blame THEM. The “powers that be” are protecting their political turf. I’m nothing special. I’m no rocket scientist. If I can figure out how to access this information, anyone can.

I blame YOU. Every conservative who claims to be a “political activist” who’s never even read the bylaws or rules of their county or state Republican Party committees.

I live in Arizona. Where do I go to find out the eligibility criteria for becoming either the Arizona Republican Party chairman or a national committeeman?

Hmmm.

Maybe the bylaws of the Arizona Republican Party would be a good place to look. I looked

Those bylaws tell me that if I want to get elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party, or as the national committeeman, so I can be a member of the RNC, I first have to be an elected precinct committeeman and then get elected to be a state committeeman.

If I’ve managed to be elected the chairman of a Republican county committee, then I’m automatically a state committee member. Otherwise, each county committee is allotted one state committeeman position for every three elected precinct committeemen.

So, I’m going to have to make sure I get elected to serve as a state committeeman so I can attend the annual state meeting at which the state chairman is elected. That election takes place every two years after the even-number year general elections. If I can manage to get elected as a state committeeman, then I’ll be in a position to run for Arizona Republican Party chairman at that meeting, assuming I can manage to get a majority of state committeemen to vote for me.

“When all else fails, read the directions.”

Elections of the national committeeman and woman take place when the Arizona Republican Party holds its state convention, which takes place when the national committee issues the call for a national convention. Then the Arizona state chairman issues a “call” for a state convention to be published as provided by the rules adopted by the national committee and the Arizona state bylaws. Precinct committeemen, and only precinct committeemen, elect the delegates to the convention, and only precinct committeemen are eligible to be elected as delegates. Those delegates, at the convention, elect the national committeeman and committeewoman.

So, assuming I can get myself elected state chairman, or elected as a delegate to the next state convention, I’ll be in a position to be the next RNC chairman. Because I’ll be in a position to attend the RNC meeting at which the RNC members elect the next RNC chairman. And that meeting, per RNC Rule 5 (b), takes place in January of each odd-numbered year. Which means Michael Steele’s position as RNC Chairman will be up for “change we can believe in.” But it is too late for me to become the Arizona national committeeman, as that election won’t happen again until the next Arizona convention. So I’ll have to focus on becoming Arizona Republican Chairman.

Did you know any of this?

“When all else fails, read the directions.”

Now here’s the really good part. Did you know that you DON’T have to be a member of the RNC to be elected the RNC chair or co-chair? Yep, Rule 5 (a) (1) also states, “The chairman or co-chairman need not be a member of the Republican National Committee.” In other words, ANYBODY can be elected RNC chairman or co-chairman. I guess I like that flexibility. In case I can’t make it to Arizona Republican Party chairman, I can still throw my hat in the ring!

Hmmmm. Maybe I should.

RNC Chairman ColdWarrior. I like the sound of that. But, it does not matter if it’s me. What matters is that it’s a real conservative. And for that to happen, real conservatives need to gain a majority within the RNC committee.

Which begs the question: What are YOU going to do about it?

For Liberty,
ColdWarrior, PC (that’s “precinct committeeman,” not “political child!”)
Conservatives, UNITE! CHANGE the Republican Party and save the world by UNITING INSIDE the Party as precinct committeemen. NOW!

An excellent diary all-around. Of all of the people who should have been able to defend Rand Paul from the charge of racism , Michael Steele should have been at the top of the list.

Of all people who should have been able to issue a defense of freedom and call the left and MSM out on their ridiculous race-baiting, Michael Steele should have been at the top of the list.

Instead, he threw our nominee under the bus for defending the principles of Goldwater, Buckley and Reagan.

That’s why, when I think about the things that need to change in our party, giving Michael Steele the boot is at the top of the list.

I agree completely with the Diarist, Steele is sounding like a liberal democrat with some of his bizarre statements about Rand Paul. I suspect it won’t really hurt Rand though, because its his true Conservatism and opposition from the GOP establishment that has given him his 25 point lead in the first place. So if the establishment continues to stab him in the back, I don’t really think it will matter because the People are the ones who support him, because he stands for what they believe in, lower taxes, less spending, smaller government, more freedom. Its that simple.

They are like “First Principles”, if you take everything out of them and put “me first” in them.

Nicely said, AC.

Oh, and Steele can GFH any time. Craven coward squish.

Even if you want to agree with what he said (which I don’t), his timing was horrible. I mean, this is what you say right out of the gate? Instead of talking about the issues that are important to Americans (National Security and the Economy), his whole campaign will be shadowed by this issue.

Steele had to do some damage control. I’m not thrilled with the words in his response, but I haven’t been thrilled with Steele since he took over leadership of the GOP.