Michael Steele wins RNC chairmanship race

[Desertdog]

I hope that 'in with the new' will do something to urge the majority of Conservative voters to vote in the next election.  We still need Conservative people to run in all election districts.

Michael Steele wins RNC chairmanship race
Former Maryland Lt. Governor to be first African-American chair
Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28914110/

WASHINGTON - Michael Steele was elected Republican National Committee chairman on Friday, defeating the incumbent party chief and three other challengers over six rounds of voting to become the first black to lead the GOP.

The former Maryland lieutenant governor takes over a beleaguered GOP as Republicans seek to rebound from back-to-back defeats in national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress and the White House.

"As a little boy growing up in this town, this is awesome," said Steele, the most moderate candidate in the field and considered an outsider because he's not a committee member.

In a brief acceptance speech, the new GOP chairman struck a tone of inclusiveness.

"We're going to say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us, and for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over," Steele said.

He won 91 votes out of a possible 168 in the sixth round. A simple majority of 85 was needed, but it took six rounds for Steele to win
[/quote]

[seeker_two]

Borrowed from another thread.....

It just got worse.  Michael "you don't need an assault weapon to go hunting" Steele is the new RNC chairman.

The one who was proud that he owned zero guns?

Oh, f...

I'm pretty sure we've just seen the final nail driven into the GOP coffin......how are the Libertarians holding up?.... 

[Balog]

Republican National Committee: "we ran the most liberal person with an R in front of their name we could, and we STILL lost! Uh, ummm, well.... let's try a black guy."

Idiots....

[Perd Hapley]

D-dog, did you just quote a source, without attribution?   :|

[Desertdog]

D-dog, did you just quote a source, without attribution?

It was an Associated Press release but it did't copy.

URL put in place, also. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

hes allowed to not own guns and be proud of it.  the 2nd amendmant doesn't require you to it allows you to

[Balog]

He's allowed to. Doesn't bode well for us tho.

[Josh Aston]

Wait a minute, he's not a committee member, but they elected to lead the committee?  What the hell is that all about?

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

It was an Associated Press release but it did't copy.

URL put in place, also. 

What? No APA citation? Heads will roll!

[Boomhauer]

Wait a minute, he's not a committee member, but they elected to lead the committee?  What the hell is that all about?

They needed a Black Dude because the other side had a Black Dude, and look where it got them!

[txgho1911]

And WHO IS JOHN GALT?
Consider that a most vile proclamation?

So as a constant stream of the inane policy and legislation is gearing up in DC for the biggest run on the window of opportunity. Obomitron has 2 years to make his utopia and then two more to prove it.
Who is Steele, what has he done, what does he say that he wants. Wishing and hoping he has some kind of conservative bone or hair to validate him will not change the fact of where he came from. Maybe send the Nuge to council him. Take him hunting. With Cheney.

A search on michael steele maryland
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=michael+steele+maryland&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz2

[nico]

You know, I've heard plenty of interviews with Steele, and I voted for him for Senate.  He always struck me as a decent guy who was reasonably straightforward on where he stood on issues.  That said, he's a bad pick for RNC chair.  I'm 25 and have held my nose and voted Republican for every election I've voted in.  If they move any farther to the left, I'm not holding my nose anymore.

[txgho1911]

Someone wrote about him claiming a Reagan roll model.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17295

[Perd Hapley]

Yeah, nobody rolled like Reagan.   

[Manedwolf]

hes allowed to not own guns and be proud of it.  the 2nd amendmant doesn't require you to it allows you to

He helped rule a state that didn't allow the peasants to. And did not try to change that fact, he was content that he was a special sort that enjoyed the right denied to the common people...

[Standing Wolf]

"As a little boy growing up in this town, this is awesome," said Steele, the most moderate candidate in the field...

MSNBC so-called "moderate" Republicans get—and deserve—no respect whatever. Not so very long ago, the editors of the New York Times couldn't praise McCain highly enough. He was their kind of RINO, all right.

[nico]

He helped rule a state that didn't allow the peasants to. And did not try to change that fact, he was content that he was a special sort that enjoyed the right denied to the common people...

umm, you can own guns in maryland.  I wish their administration had been more pro-gun, but it's not like they could have gotten any pro-gun legislation passed here anyway.

[Jamisjockey]

Borrowed from another thread.....

I'm pretty sure we've just seen the final nail driven into the GOP coffin......how are the Libertarians holding up?.... 

Come on over to the dark side......


Of course if the LP itself had half a brain, now would be the time to strike.  The GOP is on its death bed.

[Jamisjockey]

http://www.lp.org/
We don't all wear wookie suits, I promise....

[seeker_two]

JJ: after reading this article, I may consider it....

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2009/01/steele_elected_rnc_chair.html?nav=rss_email/components

washingtonpost.com's Politics Blog
About This Blog   |   Meet Chris Cillizza   |    RSS Feed   (What's RSS?)
Steele Elected RNC Chair
The Republican National Committee elected Michael Steele as its first African American chairman today in Washington, a decision that came after an excruciating series of ballots that displayed a level of drama rarely seen in national politics.


Michael Steele speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. last September. (AP)On the sixth and final ballot Steele bested South Carolina Republican party Chairman Katon Dawson 91 to 77.

"It's time for something completely different and we are going to bring it to them," Steele said after his victory. "This is our opportunity. I cannot do this by myself." (Watch the full speech.)

Steele acknowledged that the GOP has an "image problem" but cast his election as a "new moment" for the Republican Party.

Asked about the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh and his back and forth with President Barack Obama, Steele was careful not to wholly embrace the controversial conservative talk radio host. "Rush will says what Rush has to say, we will do what we have to do as a party," said Steele

In picking Steele, who had previously served as the chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, the state's lieutenant governor, and the GOP nominee in the Maryland Senate race in 2006, the party regulars seem to be acknowledging the need for new -- and different -- faces at the top of its food chain.

"The winds of change are blowing at the RNC," said current chair Mike Duncan who stepped aside after losing votes on each of the first three ballots.

After five ballots, the race came down to Steele and Dawson. Republican party strategists in attendance at the meeting openly fretted about the possibility of electing Dawson, who had acknowledged his membership in a whites-only club, and the signal it would send to a country that had just elected Obama as the nation's first black president.

Of Obama, Steele offered the president congratulations for his victory but also sought to send a message to the Democratic chief executive; "How do you like me now," Steele asked.

It was -- interestingly -- former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell who ultimately swung the race to Steele when he dropped out before the fifth ballot and endorsed the former lieutenant governor. The move was somewhat unexpected as Blackwell had staked out the turf as the most socially conservative candidate in the field while Steele had had to beat back rumors that he was not sufficiently conservative.

Steele faces a massive challenge to rebuild a party that faces significant organizational, financial and messaging hurdles.

The Democratic National Committee is up and running and will have the benefit of the 13 million person strong email list that Obama built during the primary. Democrats also have the luxury of controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Steele will provide a charismatic face at the top of the GOP but will be tested to show an ability to raise the money necessary to compete with the DNC in 2009 races (governors contests in Virginia and New Jersey) as well as the critical 2010 midterm elections.

If you missed our live Twitter coverage of the RNC proceedings -- and they were FAR more dramatic than you might think -- you can catch up on it all on TheHyperFix feed.

[Desertdog]

Of course if the LP itself had half a brain, now would be the time to strike.

Maybe it is time for them to take over the Republican Party.  At least they would be able to run in all 50 states with no hassles.

[AZRedhawk44]

Maybe it is time for them to take over the Republican Party.  At least they would be able to run in all 50 states with no hassles.

^Here is wisdom.

I've got an (R) on my voter card, but I'm definitely more of an (L) at heart.  I've been approached by folks to look into becoming a precinct committeeman.  While the title sounds vaguely Orwellian, it is the lowest rung of the actual voting bloc of the republican party when it comes to candidate choosing time.

We're trying it here in AZ... give it a try in your corner of the world.

[longeyes]

The GOP, what's left of it, should leave identity politics to the other side.  They are so desperate to be liked.  It's pathetic.  They have no future as as the party of Those-Trying-Too-Hard-To-Be-Hip.

Someone in this country has to be The Designated Driver.

[MicroBalrog]

Maybe it is time for them to take over the Republican Party.  At least they would be able to run in all 50 states with no hassles.

The GOP faithful would fight them tooth and nail.

[seeker_two]

The GOP faithful would fight them tooth and nail.

From the looks of things, I doubt they have much fight left. And, by looking at the age of the "GOP faithful" like McCain & Cheney, there won't be any left after 10 years...