Michael Steele vs. his critics
RNC Candidate Michael Steele (endorsed by all of us at JBdotC) did an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcast Network, found here, here, and here. Of course, they talked of the faux-controversy the “real” conservatives has been making over Steele’s involvement with the moderate Republican Leadership Council.
The video is worth you setting aside 4:18 for. Here are a few snippets:
“They have been beating me upside the head with it and let me give it to you straight on: Wake up people. I mean what are you going to do? Are you going to kick these folks out of the party? I have watched this party self disintegrate for the last four or five years. I’ve watched this party isolate itself from itself.”
“What I’m saying is lets build this relationship amongst ourselves because people are watching and there are a lot of people who would join us and be a party of our efforts who are pro-choice but they love our message on money; they love our value system on family values broadly speaking so then how do we cross appeal, how do we make ourselves relevant to the 21st century electorate which is clearly of a different mindset on a host of issues.”
This feud between the conservatives (Rush, Laura, Hannity) and the moderates (Peggy Noonan and the David’s Frum and Brooks), and the way they act like it’s either the red pill or the blue pill, is what makes me want to throw a blue towel with a red cobra on my head and start my own party. And the criticism of Michael Steele’s conservative bona fides just because he worked with Christie Todd Whitman is straight up RETARDED.
I’m a lot more conservative than many of my fellow New York Republicans, and you know what? I still plan on doing everything I can to make sure Rudy Giuliani is elected governor in two years. I may disagree with him on 10% of the issues…but that leaves 90% I do agree with. The 90% is what unites us. The 90% is why we’re R’s instead of D’s.
Do we really want a RNC Chair, or any Republican leader, who’s willing to drive people out of the party over that 10%?
I don’t have problems with the politics of Peggy Noonan, David Frum, Kathleen Parker, etc. I do have problems with their condescending, elitist attitude toward Evangelical Christians. It’s one thing to disagree, it’s another to call names especially when you’re speaking from your bully pulpit newspaper column. They need to be especially careful about alienating the base, because if the base ever decides to walk, Republicans will never win another national election.
For what it’s worth, i think Kathleen Parker is an absolute dingbat.