A Response to Michael Steele

http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

Flagstaff

Rush Limbaugh agrees with Erick, Michael Steele doesn’t understand him (to b charitable, because I like Steele, too).

I go with Rush every time. When will Steele learn?

Flagstaff

to a conservative-based site?

Rod_Patrick

GET RID OF THE RINOS.

Yes, I’m shouting.

DavidS1787

Steele has to go…….

Illinicon

a Congressional District survey that according to the letter is suppose to give guidence to them on 2010 stratagy. I would encourge everyone who gets one to fill it out and send it in, to remind them the base will not tolerate Scuzzy candidates.

bk

The $900K that was spent was a good investment until you came along and screwed it up, no matter how she voted after being elected or even if she’d just gone ahead and changed parties afterward.

This strategy really worked well with Specter, Chaffee, Jeffords, etc.

By his logic, the preferred candidate in the 1991 LA gubernatorial election was David Duke, given that he called himself a Republican and was running against a Democrat. (Then again, the Democrat was Edwin Edwards, so perhaps Duke really was a better choice.)

Rod_Patrick

You’re not steel. You’re just a decaying wood. I DEFEND ERICK, SARAH PALIN, RUSH AND T-PAW.

I WILL SUPPORT HOFFMAN AGAIN. [I'm a poor man. I only gave 20 bucks. I hope I didn't fail the cause. Maybe more next time, when things are better (I hope).]

Xasteius

I’m with the others; we need immediate leadership change in the GOP if we don’t want the US banana republic!

Achance

always told me: “Make sure that before they do anything, they have to think about what you’ll do about it.” I think we’ve achieved that status.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

Let’s all good conservatives become (if not already) precinct committeemen — NOW — to send the signal to the “powers that be” that we’ll be replacing the liberal/moderates in the leadership positions within the Party with good conservatives who will embrace and follow the principles and values embodied in our Party Platform.

Go here to learn more and then call your local or county GOP headquarters and tell them you want to volunteer NOW to become a precinct committeeman (or whatever it’s called in your state).

www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com

No More Scozzafavas!

Thank you.
ColdWarrior
www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com

Achance

we had any caucus discipline. But the Congressional Republicans have NEVER, even in the Gingrich and Armey days, had any caucus discipline. If they did, nobody would have ever even heard of guys like McCain and Specter who had broomcloset offices, no staff, no travel budget, and no committee assignments. You don’t have to be a non-person for long to learn to really not like it.

USNJIMRET

The operative word being “had”.
It is stunningly amazing just how fast the “Beltway Flu” infects people.
Worse then H1N1 as far as I’m concerned. And the “infected” fight like crazy against the only known vaccine, Conservative Values! (Heck, ANY kind of core values, beyond ‘win at any cost’.)
Donate to the RNC, or any of the National level Republican fund raisers?
Not right now if they had a gun to my head!
Not until I see, and believe, that the flu bug has been defeated.

Robert A. Hahn

NY-23 was a huge victory for the conservative base of the GOP.

No it wasn’t. A Hoffman win would have been a huge victory for the conservative base. Then we could have marched on DC and poked sticks in the eyes of the NRCC.

What we have instead is Gloating Squishes chanting, “Told Ya. You lost the seat to the Donks. Neener neener. Shoulda listened to us.”

NY-23 was an exercise in how not to pick our battles.

Aaron Gardner

Same with us. But, I get your point.

Aaron Gardner

Lack of sleep is the enemy of the mind.

Aaron Gardner

aesthete

After seeing how Steele ran the local Maryland party and his unapologetically conservative campaign for Gov, I had high hopes for him. I was absolutely wrong in my support, and I hope that Steele sees the errors of his ways before 2010-12.

bk

It seems it has been this way for years…

Democrats in DC love being the majority power so they can abuse the hell out of that power.

Republicans in DC love being the minority party so they can reel off zingers about bad the Democrats are.

Freedomlover

Steele has got to go if we want a Conservative party again. Most times I wonder which party he is supposedly representing!

gekster

aesthete

Though I, too, would have preferred a Hoffman win, the Democrats have won at high cost to themselves:

1) Owens will have several hard choices to make in the upcoming votes for healthcare, cap ‘n trade, card check, etc. in a district that is conservative.

2) Conservatives (“the base”, if you will) have played their hand in a largely successful bid to show the powers that be that they are still, in and of themselves, a force to be reckoned with. This race shows that, should they so desire, conservatives are well-able to organize in favor of a better candidate.

3) Republican leadership, both local and national, has seen that selecting a candidate without consulting the mood of one’s constituents and the national mood, is a fatal mistake.

MacAoidh

…the imbeciles in charge of the Republican Party have drawn the exact wrong lesson from NY-23. They should be apologizing profusely for a cocking-up of their nominating process and wasting their donors’ money on someone who makes Arlen Specter look like Jim DeMint. Instead, they’re attempting to spin the results into the nonsensical contention that Hoffman’s candidacy cost the party a seat.

This kind of incompetence simply cannot go unpunished.

Tbone

We may just as well have Howard Dean running the show.

GCBWI

to listen to a short message from Newt Gingrich and then take a survey.

i hung up before the message started.

makemyday

In the comments of another diary I stated that I was going to become a precinct delegate here in Oakland county Michigan. Wanted to let you know that on election day yesterday I turned my notarized form “Affidavit of Identity” into my city clerks office. They didn’t know what it was but took it anyway and said they would call if they had any questions. No phone calls thus far so I guess they found out what it was.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

Don’t make a mistake. NY-23 was a special case because there was no Republican primary.

If you’re looking to us to lead you against Republican primary nominees, you are sorely mistaken.

In fact if you’re looking to oppose Republican primary nominees, you’re badly wrong.

gekster

One of the problems we are having is because the leaders pick one who might win over one who might be conservatives.
Scuzzi is a prime example.
Not one conservative bone in her body, and when pressed, proved it.
The leaders wanted a “win” over a conservative.
The people wanted a “conservateve” instead.
Doug Hoffman proved that.
Thats where WE win. I am a people to.
So I won.
When the leadership starts listening to the people,
then the people will listen to the leadership
Defending conservative on any hill is worth it.

DavidS1787

is that Your question of what party Steele is representing should be posed to him . Especially when he criticizes Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty for Endorsing Doug Hoffman……..

DavidS1787

with a Real insider that’s claims to be an outsider…….. Andy McKenna.. He is the example of OLD ILLINOIS politics.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

Thanks for the update. I just located the Oakland County GOP site’s esplanation about how to become a Precinct Delegate and will be adding that link ( http://www.oaklandgop.net/precinct-delegate ) to my little blog.

You are going to have a blast. Thanks for getting into the real ball game of party politics.

Thanks again,
ColdWarrior
www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com

http://www.paulfor62.com Paul Mitchell

Erik -

You’re right on target. My question is, what next?

If Dede Scozzafava came from the state legislature, wouldn’t it have been better for conservatives to beat her there, when the stakes were no so high?

Here in Illinois, I’m mounting a primary challenge to a liberal Republican incumbent state rep who could easily be the next Dede Scozzafava, but I’m not getting anything like the conservative attention Doug Hoffman got.

Wouldn’t such battles be better fought at lower levels? That’s how the liberals do it.

http://paulfor62.com

WarEagle01

I’ve ever heard from from Steele. Why in God’s name would this guy think that electing a RINO who would side with 0bamao and Pelosi on pretty much everything would be a good thing? It would mean trying to unseat her later on in a primary, which is always a tougher nut to crack. The only thing that even remotely made sense was: ‘”It serves as an important lesson on how we manage an opportunity to win a seat,” Steele said. “And how not to mismanage by putting in a botched process.’” Here, here. Steele should take at least some satisfaction that Dede Scozzafava is forever banished from the GOP and will now have to make her way among her own kind.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

Read Chesterton in New Improved Jersey

?I don?t see a victory in losing seats,? Steele said. ?I?m in the business of multiplication and addition. I want more Republicans.

So he sees the GOP as merely a brand name, and the country as merely the target market.

He’s probably reading this and thinking “Gee, Chesterton says that like he thinks there’s something wrong with it!”

Scope

to get Steele in as the RNC chair before it came to a vote? Did not that vote happen the way the article said it would? There were a whole lot of us here that were not Steele supporters, but, rather Blackwell supporters.

Steele has been as big a gaffe machine as Joe the mouth Biden. Most recently he complimented Bertha Lewis and her great efforts with ACORN, after she publically bashed the Republicans. With now bashing Palin, and I don’t care what anyone thinks of her, she supports conservative principles, she is more than a thorn in Steele’s side, as he supports moderates, obviously. There is no question that he drank from the moderate cup of kool aid, compliments of McCainiacs, and has been told what he is going to do.

Until we flush Steele, and all the other compromising creeps out of the Senate and House, we will be a torn apart Republican party. The country is now 40% Conservative, and, only 20% Liberal. The Independents broke for the Republicans big time yesterday. And, those that won with the widest margins were unappologetic conservatives. Look at McDonnell and Cuccinelli. They are both Social Conservatives, especially Cuccinelli. They didn’t run on social issues, and, they had plans and ideas for economic recovery, jobs, and are both anti-big government, and anti-federal mandates to the states. Apparently Steele didn’t get that message. For that, I consider him a lost cause.

As someone said here recently, Steele, knowingly backing an ACORN, AWFP candidate should be at least looked at as a Racketeer.

jcincy

Hoffman handily beat the NRCC’s candidate.

Hoffman put up good showing against the Democrat despite not having big party funding or direct support from the NRCC.

If $900K had been spent directly supporting Hoffman the final outcome may have been different. Finally, the NRCC’s candidate’s endorsement of the Democrat reveals how miserably the local and national GOP did in selecting a candidate.

This seat is will be still in play in just one short year. The GOP needs to identify a strong candidate right away.

Scope

n/t

Scope

n/t

antisocial

NOTHING.

Praying

I will NEVER give $$ to the GOP beltway organizations – only to the individual candidates whom I support. Not after this!!! Steele is an embarrassment. No one says you have to promote a 100% conservative – but Dede Scuzzface, or whatever her name is, was about as far left of most conservatives as Saul Alinsky. I wonder if the dems didn’t put her up as sabotage. Shame on the GOP!

baserunr

The seat was lost to the Donks with the coronation of Dede as the candidate. There was a leftist in the seat at that point, one way or the other. Hoffman offered the opportunity to have a conservative voice there instead. The defeat of Hoffman does nothing to change the loss suffered in the nomination.

hickorystick

If you watch the video, Chairman Steele is asked about Conservatives around the country, not about Redstate. Steele’s response was that what really mattered was local opinion and a process that reflected local opinion. I couldn’t agree more. He did not take a shot at Erick Erickson, he said that national opinion did not influence the way NY-23 voted. I agree.
The quote in response was something said months ago to a different question. I reviewed the video again, and he never said anything about multiplication or division or any other part of that quote. You are falling for cheap Democrat mind games
When the Chairman came into office he publicly stated his first goal was to win New Jersey and Virginia Governors races. To judge his chairmanship on that. Mission Accomplished. Congratulations Michael Steele.

Scope

surely no one could expect those that totally screwed up to take any blame. The fact that Hoffman didn’t win is all they see. They don’t have the ability to see that someone whose name was not known a month ago, only lost by 3%. And today they are gloating in their I told you so’s. Meaning= they just don’t get it, and, I am convinced they never will. They have a different agenda, and, it doesn’t include Conservatives. This was only one hill to die on, there will be many more. We may have lost a skirmish, but, we will win the war, with or without them.

Scope

No one has to worry about learning how to spell her name now.

Scope

No one has to worry about learning how to spell her name now.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

What could have been had more conservatives been in the Party’s precinct committeeman ranks in the 2008 election cycle. Instead of marketer Michael Steele being elected to the office of RNC Chair, we conservatives could have elected Ken Blackwell.

Well worth a read is Martin Knight’s account of Ken Blackwell’s strategy for rebuilding the Party from the precinct level, with electronic tools allowing precinct committeemen to better communicate and organize at the local level through web tools provided by the Party (unlike what Steele has delivered thus far).

The bottom line requirement for Blackwell’s plan to work, however, is participation by conservatives locally as precinct committeemen. That means actually going to a GOP meeting occasionally (every state has its own unique requirements; none are onerous).

Steele’s vision seems to be “just let us wizards of smart marketing re-brand our bad brand and all the good people will vote for our candidates after they see our slick web site and campaign ads.” Apparently that required him to say “baby” and “What up?” alot, too.

Blackwell’s vision was for more participation in the Party at the grass roots level, locally, of people who support the principles in the Platform to show those who had stopped supporting the Party, because they felt the Party had abandoned its principles, that it was returning to its fundamental principles. In other words, a “watch what we do and say, not just what we say” strategy.

Here’s Martin’s article, which includes helpful links, including to Ken Blackwell’s Conservative Resurgence Plan:

http://www.redstate.com/martin_a_knight/2009/05/05/the-committeeman-project/

Thank you.
ColdWarrior
www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com

Scope

or start learning how to read, including links provided, then you wouldn’t post the same dumb stupid things you did above. I have no clue as to what video you are referring to, but Eric was talking about what was said on the link provided. Go read it. And, I suggest you never ever again tell Redstaters that they are getting suckered by the owner of the site. This isn’t your first stupid post.

Scope

or start learning how to read, including links provided, then you wouldn’t post the same dumb stupid things you did above. I have no clue as to what video you are referring to, but Eric was talking about what was said on the link provided. Go read it. And, I suggest you never ever again tell Redstaters that they are getting suckered by the owner of the site. This isn’t your first stupid post.

http://locomotivebreath1901.blogspot.com/ locomotivebreath1901

The GOP suffers the malaise of big tent-itus and Michael Steele has a bad case of it. The source, of course, is all this watered down “democrat light” which turns elephants into RINOs.

Time to drain the swamp and get back on dry land. That’s the lesson of NY-23.
.

caindependent

Scuzzyfava and the fiasco are wholly owned by Steele and the so called “opposition party leadership”.

We need to work hard to get this affirmative action hire out of his job.

That is all this clown is and that is the truth behind the whole gutless leadership of the former party of Lincoln.

A bunch of gutless political parasites.

Rodney King for head of the GOP makes every bit as much sense and has every bit as much validity given Steeles incompetence and failure to grasp the dispeasure of the American citizen with BOTH PARTIES.

Business as usual is no longer going to cut it. Professional political hacks like Steele and Newt need to go away for the good of the country.

http://www.parkervisuals.com VizBiz

if Steele doesn’t step up to the plate (figuratively speaking of course). We are sick and tired of the Graham’s, McCain’s and Snowes. I can’t take the roller-coaster ride anymore. I want to KNOW how our elected officials will vote.

We are not playing these demographic games anymore. You are either a principled consevative or not. People are people and will always lean towards ‘natural laws’.

If Steele doesn’t break for conservatism, then he might as well resign right now. He’ll have a terrible year in 2010 otherwise.

hickorystick

the link included with the article and watch it for yourself. ABC cut and pasted a response from another time and date. They wanted to start conflict and it was fallen for. As far as getting suckered, I targeted it as “Democratic mind games”; to an astute reader he would know I wasn’t suggesting Erick Erickson was doing the suckering. I was referring the the phony question and the phony response.

shadowtax

Steele is the RNC chair. He IS in the business of winning elections. That is what parties do. A lost seat is a loss. It is not a victory for conservatism. It is not a victory for the Republican Party. Speaker Pelosi now has an extra vote with which to advance a leftist agenda. The media cheerleaders trumpet the pick-up as a counterpoint to conservative success in many other races.

A Hoffman victory would have been fantastic. I am truly disappointed. But we will never know what would have happened if Scozzafava remained unchallenged. Perhaps she would have won as a RINO and the results of the other elections around the country may have prompted the cynical politician to pretend to be a conservative just enough to get the 2010 nomination again. And maybe, just maybe, that would have been enough to stall legislation until after the 2010 election. We will never know. Do not pretend that you do.

It is all well and good for Erick to call for a purification in the wilderness but a loss is still a loss. We will all live with the consequences and make the most of it. There is a lesson to be learned here, but it is a lesson to be learned from a painful loss.
I hope the GOP makes rightward adjustments, but I do not agree that it is time for heads to roll. But I sense that Erick is about to declare total war on the GOP leadership with the object of securing a conservative majority in 2050.

clement

need to understand one thing. WE didn’t sink Scozzafava’s campaign. Those polls never polled people outside of the CD. The people of NY-23 solidly rejected her when the facts were placed in front of the voters. (If calling the police on a Weekly Standard reporter didn’t sink her campaign all by itself)

If the republican party wants to win by lying and misleading the people, when the truth is just as effective if not more. it can find other people to donate money to them.

Vegas_Rick

is that even if we had done nothing and Scozzascuzzie was elected, Pelosi still had the votes. SHE WAS A LIBERAL WITH PROGESSIVE POSITIONS ON EVERY ISSUE WE FACE. How does that help us?

At least the Dem ran on a no-public-option platform. If we keep electing people like this, we will remain in the wilderness for 40 years.

If we are to go down to ultimate defeat, let’s at least fight and not cower.

Hooah_Mac

Would we really want our wagons hitched to the campaign of a person who sets up a press conference in front of 10 opposition supporters holding Hoffman signs?

BTW, the inside story on how that came about, directly from the Hoffman campaign person responsible for it is one of the posts on the race I will be doing shortly.

ceili_dancer

n/t

http://davesnotepad.blogspot.com/ Dave

If he hasn’t figured it out by now, I doubt that is going to change between now and the critical mid-terms coming up next year, which I believe are critical to the survival of the America we know and love.

Sending reach-across RINOs to D.C. who are going to aid Obama in furthering his nation-killing agenda isn’t going to cut it.

We are fast running out of elections to save this republic, and I fear we are far closer to losing it than many realize.

-Dave

jtkell100

Does Mr. Steele not realize We have a National Republican Platform? A Candidate should conform to the Platform or join another party. I could not join a Club if I would not abide by their rules.Mr Steele should man up and be as strong as Palin on the conservatives basic beliefs. Mr Steele dont.t waste any more time and money on RHINOs. Start speaking with some gravaties. I would be with you if you could get your act together.

http://www.the41stvote.org rcov092

I said this on the site the other day and I will repeat for Michael Steels benefit:

If you are in the GOP and we cross paths, do not speak to me of focus groups, demographics and mathematic “paths to victory”…unless you are prepared to be run over by principle.

I am a proud member of the GOP and a member of the board of the REC in my County.

http://www.the41stvote.org rcov092

so I too will recant the “Repudiation”. However, for re-inforcment of yesterdays lessons and for purposes of clear communication, the balance of my post stands to anyone in the GOP that wants to keep arguing for diluting the GOP into an unrecognizable mash that is easily confused with Democrat principle or Liberalism.

texas214

however Hoffman wasn’t much better no matter how much Erick, Fred, Sarah, Sean and others pushed. Yeah he was conservative and all, but he had the excitement of a sleeping elephant who didn’t live in the district (something we have howled about with Dem candidates in the past).

I saw Haley Barbour on Morning Joe the other day talking about this election and the Pawlenty Snowe comments; his take is that that Republicans should have a minimum threshold of conservatiness (not sure that is a word), but that he would probably not win in upstate New York or Maine and that the people in those locations should be allowed to choose who they want as long they go through the primary process, something that didn’t happen in NY-23.

In other words people like Erick,sitting in Atlanta, Gamecock in South Carolina or me in Texas shouldn’t be picking the GOP representative for someplace else. And when we do it generally backfires.

http://slcliberty.blogivists.com randy streu

a conservative candidate can in in NY23. Would have won if things had been done correctly.

The cluster—- that happened in NY23 doesn’t do anything to show a Conservative “probably would not win in upstate New York” and given the history here, it’s a stupid thing to say.

http://www.the41stvote.org rcov092

had the RINO infected,focus group worshiping, demographic chanting math genius staff of the NRCC not been allowed by lack of leadership to interfere and muck it up.

I agree that the best solution is to let a primary process work its way throug, (I live in Florida, I hope John Cornyn finally gets it) and the process in NY was problematic based on time constraints.

It would behoove us as a Party to try to develop a process which, for lack of the ability to conduct a primary, would make the process of restricted selection more open, transparent and at least accommodating to the widest possible segment of the REC leadership in a county (not just 11 Chairs in a process fraught with the potential for abuse that we saw).

However, every credible account of what actually happened In NY-23 lays the primary repsonsibility for this debacle at the feet of staff in Washington at the NRCC. I am also thoroughly angered by what I perceive as very real, very arrogant and very cynical attempt to mislead the base. Heads should roll.

Not saying which ones, but someone there, I think wandered very far off the reservation and if this is left unchecked will not happen again, because the NRCC will not receive enough donations to pull it off a second time.

http://www.parkervisuals.com VizBiz

of people that know this country is going in the wrong direction, but don’t really understand why, and what conservatism offers. It is our duty as God fearing, freedom loving Americans to explain to them how their country works and what their rights are. They’ve been lied to their entire lives and are tired of chasing that carot. Ban together and let’s teach them.

Achance

as some of you are making it. They’ve held office with an R behind their name. Amongst other people who’ve held or hold office, that makes them the nobility and, of course, they must be supported. There ain’t no focus groups, demographics, or any of that stuff about it. It’s a whole more like a fraternity than a business. The I Ate a Thighs will always look out for other I Ate a Thighs.

MacAoidh

…I expect character and accountability among the leaders in my party. I expect that when they’re wrong they will accept it. I expect them to admit the sin, repudiate it and excoriate the enemy for his refusal or neglect to do so – and I expect this to be done with sincerity, character and accountability.

Because these things are too important to be pursued on the basis of lies. Lies are ephemeral and illegitimate, and lasting, positive change cannot be effected by their use.

http://davesnotepad.blogspot.com/ Dave

“…there are some serious questions as to the [accuracy] of the ABC News report…”

LOL-Yeah, like THAT’s never happened before.

-Dave

mschmitt

If Hoffman had been bested in a fair (R) primary; most of us would agree, I think, that he should step aside and wait his turn; rather than oppose his party as the (C) nominee, and play spoiler…

While I am not a third-party advocate (except for in momentary fits of rage, tending to occur only after listening to somebody like Michael Steele politicking the newer, hipper, and more centrist GOP); I have a hard time getting my craw around how someone like Scozzafava ever made it on a ballot — any ballot — as a (R) in the first place; and furthermore, why both the local and national GOP leadership chose to spit in our collective eyes by backing her early when a (vastly) more viable (and actually Republican) candidate was available…

jtkell100

A person running for the US senate or US Represenatives on the Republican ticket shoud be mandaded to subscribe to and abide by the Republican Platform, no matter if you are in New York , California or Florida. We are in a Club that has rules that should be obeyed.. These are National issues and are the business of each individual Republican member. If candidates do not want to abide by the platform they should choose another Party. We have a platform Committee. that prescribs and votes on these rules.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

RedState is a conservative and Republican site. We take sides with the conservative in primaries, and we take sides with the Republican in the general.

Those who expect us to go off on some foolhardy tangent in which we start gunning for “impure” Republican general election nominees, when they beat our favored candidates in the primaries, have a gross misunderstanding of how this site operates.

If we became conservative-only, abandoning the Republican loyalty, we’d have lost our way, we’d lose a number of contributors, and we’d lose a lot of credibility and leverage.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

And that’s to change the party from the ground up.

I hope you take part in the Committeeman project.

mschmitt

After reading your previous post, it just took me a full 20 minutes (OK, so I’m a little extra slow today) to rationalize how it could ever make sense for conservatives to support Scozzafava (R) over Hoffman (C), regardless of whether there was a primary or not.

As it turns out, I agree with you (aside from my sympathy for your other concerns re: this site)… IMO, it’s important to keep reminding people that the conservative vs. liberal debate happens at the primary level and NOT the general; in this way you effectively pull the quality 3rd party agitators (and I say that with appreciative inflection) back into the fold, rather than vice versa.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

… We’d have backed Hoffman. We’d have actively participated in that process.

If we then opposed the winner of that process, then we’d be marked as bad faith participants in primaries, just like Ron Paul the most sore loser of them all.

Flagstaff

It was directed at a specific sentence/paragraph in the original post, not at anything general to do with last night’s results. Without the original post to refer to, I can’t even remember on my own meaning. Hah! I hope it all turns out to be a misunderstanding. When I heard the Steele quote on-air, I thought it sounded fairly innocuous, with some mis-interpretation thrown in.

Fred Thompson covered this all very well today. Given a liberal Republican and a conservative Republican, he goes with the conservative. Given a liberal Democrat and a liberal Republican, he goes with the Republican. And he always goes with the candidate he thinks will be best for the country.

Under 99% of possible situations, we would all agree. In NY-23, the NY Repub. party threw a monkey wrench into the mix, making last night’s result acceptable, in fact, making it something to work with for a year. In this one specific case, it was worth a chance to go with Hoffman, and he came very close. Although nobody else gave Hoffman a chance to win until that poll came out on Monday, I assume that we were all sincere in our support (I know my donation was real) and our intention was for him to win.

As it turned out, there was a lesson provided for those willing to learn. Liberal Republicans turn into Democrat supporters, and liberal Democrats can be beaten if we field a conservative Republican in opposition. 51% of the electorate did not want Owens to win. Against Scozzafava alone, he would have done better.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

No worries

redneck_hippie

Check out the pic, he seems to be modelling himself on blagohair.

http://proft2010.com/news-room/contentview.asp?c=190196

AKSteveB

Ranting and raving aside, now we’ve set a still *very low* bar for what is acceptable as a Republican. Don’t oppose us on everything! It was intellectually and politically dishonest to run her as a R. That’s more important than one ..one year seat in this Congress.

AKSteveB

Platforms are outlines and platitudes, they aren’t contracts. There need to be a few boundaries (as an example I just can’t fathom supporting someone who votes for cap and tax) and as others have pointed out, there needs to be *some* party discipline in the House and Senate.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

I saw a statement on Fox News where he said only that the election results were about Obama’s policies and not “him”. Well, what is Obama but his damn policies, unless he is a Messiah? What gives?

Flagstaff

is breaking out on the Right.

It seems to be based in PC thinking, and the desire to disagree with Rush’s desire that “Obama fail.” After all, our first non-white President can’t be a bad thing, can he? So it must be only his policies. (See, I did it myself to illustrate two kinds of PC in one sentence.)

You are right. Only a sophist could separate a President’s policies from his person. In a philosophical sense, we are all nothing without our policies. Without policies, he is just a new picture on the Post Office wall.

I think I’ll expound on the “polarizing figure” theme this weekend.

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

A Response to Michael Steele

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