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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Go With the Army You Have

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  April 5th, 2010 at 10:17 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I did not support Michael Steele for Chairman of the Republican Party, but was perfectly happy to give him a chance to prove himself. That all pretty much went out the window the moment he decided to start throwing the race card around against Republicans when feeling threatened.

If Michael Steele left tomorrow, I would not cry. As it stands now, the RNC under Michael Steele has raised a massive amount of money and spent a massive amount of money. There will not be much if any to hand over to state parties by November for the various victory funds.

That said, the GOP won in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts, draining resources along the way. If we are going to blame Michael Steele for all the bad, we should at least charitably credit him for the good too.

Were Michael Steele to leave the RNC tomorrow, what really would have changed? The incestuous culture of consultants will still be there sucking the same money from the building. The narrative will shift to the GOP throwing out the black man. Steele would become the sympathetic victim at the hands of evil racist Republicans who really always wanted that racist country clubber from South Carolina to be Chairman anyway.

It serves no good purpose to try to oust Michael Steele right now. A two-thirds vote would be required. The votes aren’t there. The process would be ugly and would be a distraction. Steele could in various ways use RNC dollars to defend himself instead of beat the Democrats. The Democrats would use the opportunity to smear the GOP even more. Pursuit of removal would be folly.

At the end of the day, though, it is not all Michael Steele’s fault. A lot of the blame for things these days is being foisted up by a press all too happy to highlight Republican problems and ignore Democrat problems. Some of what is happening is within Steele’s control and some of it is not. The Democrats and some Republicans have happily peddled the story about Michael Steele’s incompetent management, some because of very real concerns, but some to distraction from other issues.

Here we are in April, more than a year after his election, having the same debate we had before his election — from spendthrift ways to management skills to consultants milking the RNC. All of the present problems derive from known knowns. Were the RNC leadership to replace him it would be because they are embarrassed, not because they have all of a sudden grown wiser.

And this is the Achilles heel of the whole GOP structure right now. From the Chairman of the Party to the Congressional leadership, we have in place a bunch of people who led us out of power who will lead us back into power. Sure, Steele was not there, but those he has surrounded himself with and who advise him and take donor money were as much a part of the problem as the congressional guys.

With the exception of the top of the House leadership, there is little indication that any lessons were ever learned regarding the Republican defeats of 2006 and 2008. If the GOP wins big in 2010 it will be in spite of themselves — but they’ll take it, use it, and abuse it.

Again — it is April of 2010. The election is less than seven months away. We go into the election with the army we have, not the one we would prefer. We go with Michael Steele and Mitch McConnell and the rest, so suck it up and deal with it.

Don’t like it? Join me in beating them in the primaries. Then we can talk.

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COMMENTS

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  • Dan McLaughlin

    Agreed 100%. This isn’t the time to get in a nasty public battle with Steele. Absent a clean way out, we’re better off staying focused on the other side.

  • kyoufuu

    I’m not the biggest fan of Steele as it were. But the fact is that if anyone else were chairman,we would be seeing as many negative stories in the media. They would just be about something else.

    To expend any effort in trying to oust him now would be disasterous for the party. When considering action, one should always weigh the risks and rewards. Getting rid of Steele here and now has fewer benefits than leaving him in place.

    Now, this is not to say that we should just look the other way. That’s the sort of behavior which damaged the party in the past. But we should catalogue all of his errors in leadership and then use them to replace him when his term is up.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    The best Republican in the primary; the Republican in the general; and vote the ticket all the way down. If you’ve done your job, the best Republicans will be the ones on the ticket in the first place.

    There is no cavalry coming to save us: we are the cavalry, and we are perfectly capable of saving ourselves.

  • Hugh

    I commented earlier today on another post about removing Steele. It probably is too late for that. The game has already started and we must to take the field with the players we have.
    For me though, I plan to pick out a candidate in my district (GA-8th) and directly support them rather than the RNC. I am thinking that Angela Hicks may be the best choice in the Republican primary currently. I will also directly support other candidates that come to my attention through RS.
    We must be prepared to work locally like we have never worked before. That includes door knocking neighbors, phone banks, helping with mailings, helping people get to the polls, etc.

  • Aaron Gardner
  • JadedByPolitics

    as you know I supported him early and often but I will NOT be treated by him like some racists. If I want to be called a racist I will go against the policies of the Obama which I do and I am called a racist. He MUST GO! I am sick of this racist crap and I will not stand for it one more minute. I gave $40 after the vote thinking that would go towards getting rid of Pelosi but the bottom line is that Sen DeMint’s group and others are a hell of lot more in keeping with the Conservative Movement and if the only way to get rid of the RNC is to STARVE IT, so be it!

    BTW Michael don’t let the door hit you on the way out! YOU ARE THE RACIST Michael Steele! You cannot even accept blame for running a crappy ship oh no like the LIBERAL you are you want to blame your skin color, GROW UP!

  • penguin2

    it is more that he has just turned out to be a politician and doing business as usual.

    We desperately need change, but the only realistic change is from the inside out, and it cannot happen overnight. We didn’t get in this predicament overnight, and as you pointed out, many are responsible, not just Michael Steele. Are we worse off than a year ago? No, so we keep going and stay realistic in our perspective.

  • tom246

    While you have a tempting idea, the fact is sometimes we must choose the difficult road to progress. I am in no way a Michael Steele supporter not because of race but because he ahs demonstrated almost the some lack of concern for the voter that Obama has. It is time to remove this person even though it takes recourses to do it.

    Of course we must be pragmatic, the chances of removing him now, this close to elections is not going to happen. However, it is important that we go on record about what we think of his handling of donations and the general decline in perceived morals during his watch.

  • audax

    You get the best Republican (Conservative-Noun) in the Primary and on the General Election Ballot by becoming a Precinct Delegate/Committeeman/Captain.

  • penguin2

    I do think bad publicity will decrease donations, and we have to educate the people as to where their money is better sent. A couple of years ago, people just gave mindlessly, now I think they are paying attention and being a lot more astute about who gets their dollars. We need to get the message out about the Conservative candidates, that are the better choice.

    Business as usual will not help the GOP in November.

  • audax

    NT

  • Christine (Trelaina)

    I will say that it won’t take too many more stabs in the back before I will want the man FIRED.

    I am ANGRY, very angry, that he not only played the race card but because he threw it at us, he gave liberals a wide open shot at us.

    Mr Steele, watch it….we’re firing a ton of democrats this year and it wouldn’t take much for us to hand you your hat as well.

  • dellbabe68

    We’re doing well. We’ve won states that were off limits. Yes, he’s spent money, but he’s raised it, too. I have never understood the sour-grapes attitude by some since Steele’s first day. Enough. No one is going to be perfect. This is becoming a nuisance but more because of those who have another candidate in mind that they feel should be in. Someone needs to tug on their sleeves and say ?enough already.?

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

    Steele *is* the RNC Chairman right now. He’s *already* proven himself to be a bad faith actor whose only goal is to make money for himself and those connected with him. He’s *already* calling us racist.

    If we start the process of removing him, all of that will only get *worse* because he’ll have nothing to lose, and we’ll have no guarantee we can remove him.

    Principle does not dictate fighting losing battles. It dictates following the action that will do the most good.

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

    … it actually decreases it.

    If the only people left donating to the RNC are people who agree with Steele, guess what: He might get another two years because none of the donors are complaining, and we’re going to win the House. You see?

    Give. Get involved in the party at your local level, taking a leadership position if you can. Come the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November, we start the process of removing him then from a position of strength.

  • pirate55

    I am confident many of us have lived a life full of those playing THE CARD. It is what it is, a last resort by those who have no further rebuttal to both legitimate and rational debate and/or disagreement. We now have seen it played not only STUPIDLY but arrogantly.

    It is a CARD which continues to both conquer and DIVIDE and it certainly is meant to do that. It is meant to create guilt among a people, many of whose ancestors were not even present in this great republic more than 150 years ago. It is meant to continue to paint the SOUTH as a gang of racists and the NORTH as the saviors of the country. It is now used to paint conservatism as RACIST and Liberals as the GREAT RESCUER. These parallels should not be lost on us. The mischaracterization of our nation’s history continues to plague our society today, and like Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt continues its goal of a Centralist “cradle to grave” Nanny State government.

    Conservatives, if they truly are what they say they are should welcome intelligent discourse and disagreement, but as long as I shall be free, I will confront THE CARD and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS to the disadvantage of truth for the EVIL it is and the FALSEHOODS it represents.

    By the way Mr. Steele, I don’t plan on buying the book and Mr. Hannity, quit hawking it.

  • zollistar

    Business leaders are learning this; we should learn this too.

    Running a business, especially a big one, with a top-down approach is not as effective as a vibrant, more decentralized structure. In the latter, good people are able to grab good ideas and run with them, to the benefit of the whole organization. Just as important (and sometimes more important) poor leaders’ decisions have less of an impact on the whole organization. I am mindful, for example, of then Time-Warner CEO Gerald Levin’s disastrous sale to AOL in 2000. After a decade, the company is still struggling to recover from Levin’s misbegotten idea.

    Thus, it’s prudent to send money and help directly to people who can make — and are making — a meaningful difference. That’s what I’m doing. I think my dollars go a lot further AND do the job.

    So, I say: starve the RNC beast and feed the lambs directly.

    I appreciate learning about good candidates here on RedState. I thank you, Eric and your crew, for that valuable intel.

  • writeblock

    I don’t buy the line of reasoning that worries about the narrative that will result if Steele is forced out. My gripe is that we do too much of this kind of thing. Why should we care about narratives invented by the left? That’s why Steele got the job in the first place. That’s why we doubt Sarah’s electability. We’re constantly monitoring our own reactions and double-thinking everything. Let’s just do what is in our own interests according to our own narratives. It’s reasonable to dump Steele. He’s not a genuine conservative. To hell with whatever narrative results.

    That said, we can work around Steele by supporting candidates directly.

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

    We have to keep giving.

    If the only people who hate Steele are those who don’t give to the RNC, then the RNC just might keep Steele on until the Presidential election because hey, we won the House and the donors like him.

    We have to give to prove that the Steele critics are also committed to victory.

    We also need to further the Precinct Committeeman project to ensure that Steele critics have a voice within the party.

    Give. Join. Remove Steele in December.

  • Achance

    over a large work unit if you actually believe that stuff about decentralization. That’s Biz School crap ginned up by professors who’ve never run anything and don’t understand what they’re seeing when they study successful organizations. In the world of large organizations, only highly structured companies with highly refined structure and processes can afford “hot work groups” that do have some freedom to innovate. That doesn’t mean that these units are out of the “top down” management system.

  • writeblock

    The racist narrative is getting old–and I think most savvy people who follow politics are aware of this. The 40% of tea partiers who are independents and democrats are thus exposed to liberal smear techniques–which only undermines the left even more. People in general are wising up.

    Steele was put where he is for the same reason Obama got elected–and it’s wrong. It’s racism in reverse. People should be elected to positions of power based on merit, not skin color. That said, I’m not surprised Steele uses race to his own advantage. But we don’t have to play his game.

  • jdw4america

    The prize is in November. We can win in November, but not if we get distracted. The left wants us to blink, and take our eyes off the prize.

    We can take care of Steele later. Right now, we focus on moving all candidates on our ticket to the right. ColdWarrior’s always saying we’ve got to get into the fight locally. He’s right. Get the right people from the primary into the election and from the election into office.

    Steele’s not going anywhere. We can give him a pink slip in December – Merry Christmas!

  • penguin2

    up the amount one intends to use to help the cause. I mean, right now I maintain my membership in the RNC, RNCC, and RNSC. I always gave all of my political donation money to them blindly. Since 2008, and being involved here, I do support the conservative candidates and causes. But it is no longer going all to the main GOP organizations.

    When you say give, how are we to divide the funds?

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    Or at least by engaging in your local party activities, which I myself need to do more off.

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

    I’d take all the money I give to the RNC/NRSC/NRCC and split it 40/20/40.

    The House is where we have the surest gains and where our national apparatus has been most effective. But the RNC also has flexibility to get money to wherever it’ll be needed later.

  • Richard Mullins

    We just need to sidestep the RNC at this point. The “Let’s get rid of People” conservatives,who want to have anyone they don’t like at the moment(e.g. KBH, even though having her stay in the Senate for the remainder of her term is good for all candidates in 2012). Getting of Steele doesn’t make things better. In fact, it might make it harder to win the house. We don’t want to lose by the Donks trying to change the momentum.

  • acat

    First, why hand the opposition, who buy ink by the barrel, more clubs with which to hit us?

    Second, it *doesn’t matter* who the head of the RNC is. What matters is getting conservatives on the tickets, and then getting them elected. We can do that much more efficiently by donating *directly* to conservative candidates in the primary and the general.

    The RNC is in the position travel agencies were in back in the late ’90s when web sites like Expedia.com started eating their lunches.

    Direct contributions to candidates are now dead simple, phone banks are “virtual” and are able to do their marketing directly to candidates.

    Travel Agencies hoped to work around this by promoting “value add” but Joe Citizen now goes to Expedia or the airline and rental car sites directly. These days, Travel Agencies seem to function as external travel departments for companies, event planners, or package builders.

    The RNC is in the same boat – all the value-add they used to do for candidates in the primary stage are pretty much replaced by the internet, but it’ll take a while for them to catch up.

    Mew

  • http://aposematic.wordpress.com aposematic

    As I write, the Republicans are forming a circle, locked and loaded, and ready to start shooting on the Democrats comand.

    There could really never be anyone dumber than a Republican Party member!

    Get ready for the slaughter to begin just as soon as the circle jerk is complete!

  • http://www.FranBaker.com frankieb

    Erick’s right. And here’s what we’re doing. We’re donating directly to the best conservative candidates we can find. We’re also pledging to work for those candidates, be it walking the precincts, licking and stamping envelopes/postcards or passing out literature at the polls. This is something we all can do. Even if you don’t have money, you have a little time. And time is priceless when a good conservative candidate needs help.

  • The_Gadfly

    grassroots aware/fighter he claims to be, he would never have been in the RNC election because he would have cleaned up in the governor’s race in Maryland and been too busy actually running a state. I would have preferred almost any of the candidates running against him for the RNC chair (there was one who was worse but I can’t recall the name now).

    That being said, I will not fault him for the club or phone number incidents, and I will grant him some leeway on the “blacks have a harder time of it” issue. I don’t fault him for the sex issues because it wasn’t him making those decisions, and to his credit they were eventually corrected at higher levels. I will grant him leeway on the “blacks have a harder time” issue not because it is true, but because I’ve never had an extended acuqaintanceship with a black person who hasn’t at some time expressed that sentiment. I may have a read a book by one who hasn’t, but that isn’t quite the same thing.

    I think it might be possible to replace him in a way that the damage is limited. But given the nature of some of the Republicans calling for Steele’s resignation, I don’t foresee that happening. I see them angling to replace Steele with someone who will be worse, because they can’t have Conservatives having anything to do with driving this bus. For that reason, and primarily that reason, we should leave Steele alone for now.

  • Michael Dugas

    And the time and place for this fight is NOT now.
    We cannot divert our attention, even for a moment, from the task of removing these criminals from Washington and saving our Republic! The field day the Lame Stream media and the Dems would have with Republicans trying to remove an African American Republican from a position of power would divert much needed attention away from the task of taking back Washington for the citizens of this country!
    One of the biggest problems the republican party has was greatly highlighted during the years we had both Houses and the Presidency. We fractured into little socio-political cliques and instead of advancing on common ground we stood fast and stalled over our differences. This CANNOT happen again if we are able to take back the majority. If it does than the battle
    was for nothing because nothing but the names in the chairs will have changed.
    As citizens WE need to never again become lazy citizens taking our freedom and liberty for granted.
    We must change the faces in Washington by putting new butts in those seats and then holding them too their words and demand that they represent OUR interests and not just their own.
    It is time we are heard, we can no,longer allow ourselves to be silenced by bogus assertions of racism and hatred! We know who the real haters are and it’s their turn to SHUT THE HELL UP!
    We can do this. We can save the future of our country and future for our children. We will endure because we are Americans, because our grievances are just and because we will no longer be silenced!
    We will NEVER again let our representatives take their positions for granted nor for self enrichment.

  • zollistar

    And it is frequently from the “hot work groups” that good ideas come.

    Also, keep in mind that we’re now seeing a lot of hot innovation taking place outside of the big organizations — who then buy the innovation. The innovators get rich; the big company has a tested, proven product to add to its portfolio. A win-win.

  • http://www.800cart.com Ron Robinson

    Like many, I decided to run for CC in my local AD in CA. We have some superficial success in my AD. I say superficial because something happened in my AD that I would not have predicted.

    We have 12 folks running for 7 seats in my AD – just the sort of situation that one would think would produce the ‘flux’ needed to ensure we have good servants – but there is a catch.

    Of our current 7 committee-critters, about 6 are do-nothing or nearly so – the kind we want replaced. Our chair is a super go-getter and an excellent mentor, I have found.

    Here’s the rub: a local org (I won’t say) made the mistake of recruiting about 4 others – pulled their papers for them,, circulated their petitions for them, etc. Most of these candidates told me face-to-face after some tough questioning that if they happen to ‘fall into’ a committee seat, they will serve.

    Since they won’t lift a finger to campaign for themselves, (they fully expect the org in question to campaign successfully for them) what kind of service can we really expect from them if they get seated?

    It’s tougher than we expect folks: we need to find ways to recruit potential committeepeople who will prove their bona fides for public service by actually getting some work done for the party as part of the process of arriving in office.

    Pick your people carefully!

  • Achance

    What you don’t see much of is the “innovators” getting rich by actually producing and marketing their innovation; their only hope is to be bought up by a company that has the structure in place to endure. We love to love innovators and entrepreneurs but the reality is that few start-ups or other small businesses see their fifth birthday.

    In a large organization, it is the very heirarchal, stable nature of the organization that allows it the luxury of the innovative small, hot work group within the organization.

  • acat

    While this does demonstrate an impressive level of “bitter”, it also proposes no solutions.

    Go read some of the precinct project notes, just search for anything written by ColdWarrior around here – and get involved!

    The Party are a bunch of stupid jerks. That’s why We The People need to *replace* them.

    Mew

  • weatherford

    This is emphatically a time to dance with the one you brung.

    Only RINOs or other idiots would see this as an opportunity to dump Steele.

    Steele talks the talk and whether he walks the walk is a question that must be left to 2011. And it will be left until then, unless the GOP decides to quench its insatiable thirst for defeat.

  • solvoreor

    Win First, no matter what is wrong with the current Republican party, it is better than democrats. So, we have to go with the Army we have! (Well put). “A house divided against itself cannot stand” as President Lincoln said.

    Modify and improve second. “Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.” Ronald Reagan. For all I admire his accomplishments, he lived in an era of government taking on big problems. The federal activist paradigm no longer is dominant, as it was in his day. The new paradigm, Local activism capable of being scaled up as needed requires a new approach. Republicans can leverage that to shrink federal domestic spending, taxes, and interference bringing about a real change in Washington. Unfortunately, the Washington republican elite are more interested in proposing big solutions with conservative hue, than in delegating that responsibility back to local, state and regional government.

    Restore liberty. The federal activist paradigm was a reaction to the egregious abuses of the state powers epitomized by segregation. Today, that same abuse, complete with the power plays, language and media control of segregationist democrat politics of the south have found their way into the Washington. There is always a problem with power abuse, and today, it is the abuse of power by washington that is the greatest threat to liberty. Restoring the rightful power to the to local governments, to the states, and to regional governing bodies is the proper reaction to an out of control congress.

    These steps may not reduces spending or over all taxes, since the abandoned services funded by federal largess will have to be offset by increased local spending. But if I have to deal politically with too many taxes from my township, country and state I am far better prepared to do so and my voice carries far greater weight than it does with Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reed. Or Mitch McConnell for that matter.

    Win in 2010, Modify the direction of the party, Restore liberty.

    WmCraig
    Solvo Reor

    Scalable Local Activist Paradigm. Building from the ground up, with the smallest possible level that can achieve the minimum requirements. The smaller the entity the more effective the solution that can achieve consensus. Keeping the government that spends your money in “SLAPing” distance.

  • weatherford

    But it would be a very, very risky throw of the dice and would require a very quiet Steele resignation followed IMMEDIATELY by a DeMint Coup.

    That’s a tall order with the Government Controlled Media (the GCM) put into play.

    You’ve shaken my starting position a bit. I need to think about it. Is a quick move possible? More than three day’s coverage could be real damaging and even deadly.

  • unfatmatt

    I didn’t brung him. I also didn’t know the one that was brung was the kind to laugh when his base was called neo-nazis or who was a race-baiting “cool” guy.

    Get rid of him. He obviously doesn’t understand the members of the party he represents, and he’s a blight on the image of the party. Whining about how hard it is being black is for Democrats. The GOP is supposed to be the party of self-confidence and self-reliance DESPITE hardships.

  • paulnashtn

    Michael Steele is neither as good as he thinks he is nor as bad as he is portrayed by some republicans. That said, it is the out-of-date-media that are fanning the flames here. It is a win-win for the democrats & media(one & the same) to have the republicans arguing amongst themselves very publicly and you WILL notice how much this is on the news shows.
    Best advice to the republicans that are likely to be asked about this is to refuse to comment at all

  • The_Rebel

    I do have a problem with this statement:

    “The narrative will shift to the GOP throwing out the black man.”

    Are we intimating that whenever we place a black man in a leadership position, that we can never remove this individual without a similar narrative playing out? If the answer is yes, then we have a bigger problem than Michael Steele.

  • weatherford

    Yet another sucking chest wound on an Easter Monday.

    “I’ll think about it tommorow; tomorrow is another day.”

  • oldoldmom

    Good Morning America this morning I cannot support him or the RNC at all anymore.

    My money goes directly to local campaigns of candidates I support.

    I understand your point Erick but this time I disagree.

  • smitch61

    Steele was put in place to raise money, he has done so. I have always liked Michael Steele. His comment this morning disturbs me greatly. I feel like I have been sucker punched. The democrat party has always controlled the argument, whatever the subject is. The GOP for my entire life has never fought back when they needed to. You are correct. The news tonight on the lefty networks will be : We told you conservatives were racists……. and who the gives a flying f&*K about Tiger Woods, and why is this loser on my radio?

  • RedBeard

    Steele could be left right where he is, or he could be removed. Neither choice is a good one, although the first one seems the better of the two.

    But how about the third choice? Steele could recognize his faults, understand the liability that he brings to his party, and graciously resign for the greater good.

    Oh, wait. [forehead sefl-slap] I forgot myself there for a moment, and ascribed magnanimity to a self-serving politician.

  • mikerazar
  • mikerazar

    The constant carping over Michael Steele is harmful and distracting. In America today, you simply can’t pretend that his race is not a symbolic issue. Leave him alone unless you have seriously constructive criticism. I don’t defend his bad decisions, but under his leadership look where the GOP is compared to a year ago.

    Airing out our differences in the angry, vitriolic way we tend to do it is bad for the party and bad for the country. When his term is up, feel free to support someone else. Meanwhile let’s concentrate on more productive discussions.

    Erick raised an interesting point in the midst of his post. :

    “Here we are in April, more than a year after his election, having the same debate we had before his election ? from spendthrift ways to management skills to consultants milking the RNC. All of the present problems derive from known knowns”

    Maybe it is just my own ignorance, not the rest of RedState’s, but I suspect that hardly anyone knows who you are talking about, Erick. Please name names. Please suggest how we can get better “consultants” in place. Railing against unidentified bad leadership is just futile.

  • http://www.800cart.com Ron Robinson

    He will self-identify by taking action and they will handle him..

    We won’t even have to try to remember if our gun is in the basement or the garage…

    Doesn’t matter if we are dumb or not, this guy is a lot dumber.

  • constitutionalconservative

    Steele is the symptom, not the root cause. We need to be keeping all of our money away from the party committees and giving it to principled, conservative grassroots candidates and funds like Demint’s Senate Conservatives Fund.

    And, just as important, we need to make our case to big party donors as well.

  • RedBeard

    Thank you, Aposematic. Without your erudite post, complete with the eighth grade level sexual reference, I would have had NO idea how to proceed in this matter.

    By all means, keep on posting those precious little hit-and-run bon mots, as such posts really do wonders for solving our problems.

  • graciegirl

    So how would replacing Steele with him be the GOP throwing out the black man? I’ll never forget when hawking his book with Sean weeks ago he could not even speculate whether we can take back the House…he hadn’t thought enough about it!
    Isn’t that his job?

  • youthgrunt

    for a Party Chairman. Ultimately it is getting effective candidates elected and running an efficient Party office so that you get the most for the money entrusted to you. I would argue that almost anyone could have done a good job raising money in this environment. I am afraid that he is muting the gains that the Republicans could get in this cycle by how he has run things.

    That being said, Erick is absolutely right here. And if the GOP takes over the House, it will be especially difficult to remove Steele.

    As I have said before, I think that Indiana Gov. Daniels would do an incredible job of running the GOP. He would do a good job at running the country, as well.

    —–

    Go Butler!

  • andymcneil

    and very well put.

  • ktsub

    The Republican Governors Association is a good place to move your donations. I have been giving to them, feel comfortable, well run and effective committee.

    A rising tide floats all boats, a sweep at the governor races, will help all down ballot races.

  • http://www.libertytreehugger.com reverelth

    It’s 2010 and the fundraising is as decentralized as the political speech. The McDonell/Christie/Brown trifecta worked with no big, top down, RNC fist.

  • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

    Go with the army you have? President Lincoln changed generals during the Civil War. It helped win the war.

    We can dispute the timing. It’s now April, and maybe we should stick with Michael Steele through November. I see Erick’s point. Lincoln also cautioned about “changing horses in the middle of the stream.”

    But for the 2012 Presidential election, Steele must be gone. Whatever happens in November 2010, win or lose, Steele must be gone. If we win, it will be despite him.

    This is hardly a ringing endorsement of Michael Steele from all of us here.

  • acat

    or something like that. May have been someone else.

    Point is, we would both hand the Dems a club to bash Repubs with, and spend money we don’t have to try to force Steele out now.

    Let’s be clever. If Steele is an obstacle, go *around* him! Give to the candidates directly. (keeps the D.C. vultures from getting their cut, so it’s a win-win) Don’t know which candidates need help? There’s a fund for that too – National Conservative Campaign Fund or something. Look around Red State, you can read up on it.

    Besides, Steele isn’t the problem. He’s a symptom. The problem is the gutless D.C. wing of the party – out of control, off the rails, train wreck in progress. Fixing it requires replacing not just Steele but every single GOP person above the level of manager.

    The fish is rotten all the way through. Our donations, filtered by the RNC, are paying bar tabs and jet rentals instead of campaign advertising and get out the vote efforts. We’re paying to hassle former contributors. Malkin’s gotten quite a lot of mileage by just putting up pictures of rejected RNC solicitations. Now’s not the time to worry about the dead fish. Now’s the time to win primaries.

    Once we do that, the dead fish will be easy to clear away.

    Mew

  • jackhammer

    They basically invented quots, so whenever they get an african american or a hispanic american or whatever other minority into a seat, they basically have branded the race of that seat or position.

    We don’t have that problem per se. Condi Rice was black and Secretary of state, but that doesn’t mean our next secretary of state has to be a black woman….with the democrats it sort of does….like their big scary women named Janet quota;-)

    If Michael Steel had some tact, he would stop spending money!!!! Just stop taking private planes, and stop riding in limousines….who does he think he is Ric Flair? Hold the fundraisers in nice hotels on the coasts, but get a little more main street too…and no one objects to someone getting out of a yellow cab at the Waldorf….

    Even Mitt Romney, who definitely has the money to fly on private jets everywhere, seems to be flying commercial, at least he was to the olympics…so if the guy worht 500 million can fly commercial, so can the guy who is an employee….

  • eheassler

    I agree with Mr. Erickson on this one. Forcing Mr. Steele out is a waste of precious energy, resources, and provides racial fodder for the lame stream media. I do, however, think that Mr. Steele would be well served to restaff with frresher faces more reflective of Tea Party values and less beholden to the “old GOP’ good ol’boy network. That is the group that allowed the party to be misdirected under Bush and will again under Lindsey Graham, another RINO.

  • reddogreport

    I will reluctantly agree with you that Michael Steel should not be forced out under one condition: he must apologize. It is bad enough being called a racist by the MSM, it is unacceptable from one of your own.

    If Steele wants to stay as the Chair of the RNC he MUST go on national TV and state clearly and emphatically that Republicans are not racist and that the criticisms that he has faced (as well as President Obama) are solely a result of his job performance. Otherwise he must be removed.

    Brian O’Connor
    www.RedDogReport.com

  • http://www.robtaylorforsenate.com robtaylorforsenate

    Don’t Waste Your Vote

    You’re just wasting your vote if you vote third party. That may seem like an odd statement coming from a person who in the past has wasted votes on Chuck Baldwin and Ed Thompson. But, when it comes to the the primaries you are wasting your vote if you vote for someone with no opposition.

    It is very rear to see a contested race in the Libertarian, Constitution, or Green Party. To my knowledge there is not a contested third party race in the entire state of Wisconsin. So why vote in a primary where the outcome is already determined? You only have one vote (unless you live in Chicago). Why not use your vote to make the loudest statement you can for liberty?

    Bring the Republican Party Back to Its Conservative Roots

    This is another popular statement used by Republican operatives to keep people who disagree with their recent performance from abandoning them for more principled and honest independent voices. I say let’s take them up on their challenge.

    If we have only two parties to choose from one party has the incumbent and the other should be open to any challenger. Here in Wisconsin the incumbent Senator, Russ Feingold, is a Democrat. The Republican Party is the opposition party. We are told both we and the Paul Ryan RINO’s want to make Republicans conservative again. So we should all be behind the most conservative challenger in the race.

    In Wisconsin’s bid to replace Russ Feingold the most conservative challenger is Rob Taylor. Only problem is Rob Taylor is running for the Constitution Party. This means his name will not be printed as a Republican candidate. We can however write in any individual we so choose. If the republicans are honest about their intent to move to the right by voting for those candidates who best represent their ideals of less government and less taxes they should join in the movement to write in Rob Taylor as well. Even if he doesn’t win every vote he gets is a message to those who urge us to put party loyalty above policy that are no longer limiting ourselves to dung they have been serving in the past.

    I would like to be represented by an individual who will actually limit himself to the Constitution. I would like to represented by someone who understands that government doesn’t create wealth or jobs. I would like to be represented by someone who doesn’t propose knee-jerk legislation to every little problem that comes up. I would like to be represented by an individual who will not be bound by party obligations. I would like to represented by an individual who wants to actually cut the size and intrusiveness of government, not just try to prevent new programs. I would like to represented by Rob Taylor. The best way for that happen would be to eliminate the less than conservative candidates the Republicans are offering and face Feingold one on one. To do that he would need to win the primary on the Republican side. The only way someone could oppose this is if in their warped view Rob Taylor isn’t the most conservative choice, or that they really don’t want a conservative party. So, write in Rob Taylor.

  • mrgrgtaz

    I am naive to politics. And I hate it with a passion.

    Somebody please educate me on how this providing-the-American-people-a-candidate- structure works.

    Please respond to my post. If all you do is point me to another post, which will provide logical practical answers to my concerns or some other reference. I am not afraid to read.

    This is all I know:

    We better start finding common ground without compromising our principles.

    (Consider the following all in capital letters)

    I am sick of compromising my principles to get someone elected!

    (now normal text)

    I am sick of RINOs
    I am sick of GLOBALISTs
    I am sick of Neo-Conservatives

    The National Republican party and others like them, continue to endorse candidates which do not have true conservative, Constitution-loving, small govt, pro-sovereignty, free market principles.

    They compromise the principles on which the party is based.

    I do not want another candidate placed in front me, who is a compromise candidate.

    How do we go about preventing this from happening?

    Who is the person or group which has the most power to get a person on the ballot?

    How can we change this power structure?

    Who is feeding money into the Republican party and not into individual candidates? And Why?

    Michel Steele – ignore cry babies ignore the “race card”. It is what all incompetent people, who hire or are hired, based on affirmative action, do. If a person cannot do the job, then they are “incompetent” to get the job done. It has nothing to do directly with race.

    We have more important things to do, unless he completely stands in the way or hinders us getting the job done.

    Didn’t your mother ever tell you. “Sticks and bones, will break my bones, but names will never “really” hurt me. Just my feelings and my pride. I would rather ignore the stupid liberal onslaughts and get this country turned around as quickly as possible.

    Thank you.

  • iluvit

    is not of his own making. John Cornyn is a huge problem supporting and recruiting man RIMO candidates and Mithch is weak and is almost as exciting as Harry Reid. Sure it would be great to have a Haley Barbour type at the helm now but the reality is that we do not. We have had great successes this year and with the help of the Tea Party movement it appears that we will only grow more. The committee is seeing now that they will lose key races if they continue the efforts to elect some RINOs against the wishes of of the conservative base.

    The debate over Steel is meaningless and a distraction that can only help Democrats and make us appear divided. I do not think the party as a whole is devided. The RHINOs are sucking wind now. You even see Mccain making a radical move to the right lately because he is in a huge battle with a real conservative.

    We need to encourage new leadership and have someone like Coburn or Demint challenge McConnell for Senate leader. Folks like Graham, Collins, Mccain, Snowe, Alexander and Hatch should be our targets. These Senators will be the ones that will support any nominee to the SC Obama nominates by breaking the filibuster that is likely. McConnell does not have the will to take the necessary action to pressure these Senators.

    So lets get off the bash Steel bandwagon and concentrate on things we can change and things that will make a real difference.

  • GenEarly

    I have,living in Fl. to the SC Governor’s race (Nikki Haley). In the 10th District US House there is a Constitutional Conservative, Eric Forcade, running against long time incumbent Bill Young,who is 79 by the way,Young has supported BIG government spending and holds records for Pork Barrel Spending. All that is bemoaned of the Bush Era Congress is Bill Young, yet when it comes to action a large contribution to the Pinellas County Republican Party silences any discussion of alternatives. The seat is a safe (R) in the general election so why not do better? PORK! And the R’s just wail about Obama’s Stimulus,Why? Because it wasn’t for them!
    www.forcadeforcongress.com

  • bs61

    Never let a crisis go to waste. I think that this is the perfect time to rid ourselves of Steele, since he’s not likely to do the right thing in stepping down.

    The RNC is out of touch and not really in control of this election anyway – we the smarter people are!

  • acat

    If not, and if you *really* want to get rid of Steele, go become one.

    Until then, you’re nothing more than a fan in the bleachers yelling at the QB.

    Mew

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

    As Moe Lane says, “There is no cavalry. We’re the cavalry.”

    If YOU want a different “Republican Party,” there is NOTHING but YOU stopping YOU from getting involved in it and CHANGING it from WITHIN.

    You said you are “naive” to politics. If that means you’ve never been a “card carrying member” of the Republican Party — a precinct committeeman — then you need to change that. You need to get out of the bleachers and into the ball game. It’s easy and, dare I say, fun.

    Go to the link below and educated yourself. Then get to your local GOP meeting.

    Thank you.
    ColdWarrior
    Conservatives of the U.S., UNITE! Become Republican precinct committeemen. NOW!

  • bobandruth2416

    December is the time to consider who should run RNC…not April.
    Anything that creates a distraction is counter-productive at this time.

    Of course, Steele isn’t perfect, but he’s the captain now, and the goal is November, 2010, so don’t rock the boat…it will capsize the program.

  • rightwingmom52

    every time I’m solicited by the RNC, NRSC, etc. I simply tell them I have suspended my donations and explain that I am instead giving to individual candidates (e.g., Christie, McDonnell, etc.), the RGA and funds like the Senate Conservatives Fund. I tell them that when they can guarantee none of my money will be spent to support RINO’s like Snowe & Collins (or Specter before he deserted), I’ll consider donating again. Their answer is that they’ve been hearing that a lot. Maybe when they hear it enough, they’ll start listening. The last straw for me was Steele calling me racist. Apparently, he (like Colin Powell) isn’t familiar with the strategy of dancing with the one who brought you to the dance, so I don’t feel obligated to stick with him. While I can appreciate Erick’s position, I drew my line in the sand after the Scozzafava debaucle, and if I cross it, I will do so on a case by case basis (e.g., Brown).

  • JSobieski

    My experiences with capitalism are that the closer individuals are to feeling the impacts of their own decisions, the more efficient the organization is.

    Some things, like the manufacture of jumbo jets or skyscrapers obviously require capital of a certain scale. However, when it comes to things that can be done by small organizations or individuals, I go with the small.

    Examples: physician practices, lawn care, babysitting, auto repair, law firms, …

    I work with companies both large and small, and it seems like the large companies don’t even try anymore. Centralized or decentralized, scale has its disadvantages in terms of accountability and buy in.

    I am a patent lawyer, so I tend work with the smart folks of the organization. But my confidence in smaller groups far outshines my confidence in GE on the whole.

  • Achance

    of small organizations that are a part of a well-understood organizational culture and which share all the same infrastructure rules and processes. As I’ve advocated in the stuff I’ve written about governmental organization, you have to have firm and centralized control over money, people, and stuff; programs can innovate to their heart’s content as long as they are responsible with money, people, and stuff.

  • JSobieski

    nt

  • http://guyaverage.blogspot.com guyaverage

    Two More Words: Reagan Republican.

    He came in second when Steele was elected as chairman of the RNC, which proved to me at the time that it is the RINO National Committee. Ken Blackwell would negate the “racist Republican” rhetoric and also give a true Conservative a chance to have a hand at actually moving the GOP toward having some sort of real standard, maybe even a conservative standard, to stand for.

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

    Proved it to me, too.

    But I at least had a hand in the voting, as I was an elected Republican Party precinct committeeman. And I got elected as a delegate to the AZ Republican Party convention — which means I got to vote for the AZ RNC delegates. So, indirectly, I had a “say” in the process.

    Did you? Do you want to?

    If so, become a Republican precinct committeeman. That way, you can have a say in who becomes the next RNC Chairman. And you’ll get to vote in the other local and State GOP leadership elections.

    It’s not hard to become a “voting member” of the Party.

    Go to my blog below if you want to learn more.

    Thank you.
    ColdWarrior
    Conservatives of the U.S., UNITE! Become Republican precinct committeemen and change the world!

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

    and get into an additional leadership position if you can.

    We CAN change this Party IF we get INTO it.

    Thank you.
    ColdWarrior
    Conservatives of the U.S., UNITE! Become Republican precinct committeemen and change the world!

  • Ed_Wallis

    It would be freeing the GOP of an albatross – one which the Dems will only too gladly trumpet with each and every coming day nearing the November elections.

    I consider Steele as toxic to the GOP as Ron Paul – for different reasons.

    I do not consider it Mr. Steele who motivated the millions of donations over the past year – that was IMHO “thanks” to Obama.

    Dump Steele pronto.

  • http://www.veronicaestrada.com/ Veronica Estrada

    The heat and fire of the conservative/teaparty movement makes me believe that we can “speak” by replacing those that don’t represent me.

    With those words he uttered, Michael Steele no longer represents me.

    I don’t know who he he thinks he represents when he says he has to live within a margin of error “just like Barack!”

    He just spit on the lot of us who have had to deal with being called racist *to our faces* – where we have to explain again and again how “we have a right to disagree with this or any administration “(thank you, Hillary).

    And my kids. I’m raising conservatives, and when they voice their opinions at school, or counter a “Barack!” moment, they’re called racist.

    This past Easter, on our drive home from the Grandparents late at night on Sunday, we had to go over some logical replies to being called “racist.”

    I hadn’t even heard the Steele story.

    I felt sadness because my “own guy” gives the others cause to deride my kids.

    Stuck. I feel stuck. It’s a bad place.

    I wonder if others feel the same and don’t get the political play here if we keep Steele.

    I worry that they would give up on replacing the mod in their state. All that hard work and passion. And then we keep a guy who plays race, too,and doesn’t know how to spend the little money I have to donate.

    “They do it, too” doesn’t cut it.

    Just a thought. Thanks for the post, Erick.

  • leehazel

    This is not the time for his kind of exposure of dirty underwear.

    That said: it must not detract from healthy inter-mural fights of the kind going on in Arizona. The Hayworth McCain head to head is overdue in this state.

    PC is Thought Control
    LEE

  • The_Gadfly

    Since reading Erick’s post I’ve seen additional information about what was happening at the RNC. According to the Washington Times Steele refused to remove the official who approved of the forging of his signature to approve those expenses. That is not acceptable. It is the sort of moral short-sightedness that cost Republicans elections in 2006 and 2008. This is the sort of thing where voters don’t care about the amount of the money, they care about the principle of a highly placed official ignoring a felony.

  • jetman

    volunteer in your local campaign to oust a demogogue, uh, democrat. EVEN if it looks hopeless to do so, you’ll be helping to build for a future, better opportunity by building up your local Republican organization. GET INVOLVED!