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Merged GOP getting its legs back? / RNC drops Steele

Denver

Penultimate Amazing
Denver
Joined
Sep 8, 2007
Messages
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First, they took (were given) the House majority.

Now, they replace Steele, with someone who I think can reinvigorate their fundraising.

I've had a suspicion that Steele was mostly given that position because the RNC thought a black guy would make them look more in touch with the public, not because he was the best for the job.

From where I sit, this looks like a strong turning point for the party. If they keep this kind of progress going, they could look very very good come 2012.

My guess is that, if this is a wide-spread house cleaning, they will more and more de-emphasize Palin (who, also, I thought was only drawn forward as a response to Hillary).
 
Interestingly, Priebus, the new GOP chairman, was the driving force behind electing Steele as the GOP chairman. Though I don't know what subterranean machinations went on in electing Priebus, I strongly suspect that Steele would have hand-picked Priebus if he'd had a choice. (And maybe he did.) Perhaps Priebus will be a little less gaffe-prone than Steele, but don't expect any major shift in direction.

But the success of the GOP will depend on if the recovery, which appears to have started, continues. If it does, Obama and the Democrats will get most of the credit. That's what will determine the result of the 2012 elections. What was it James Carville said? Oh yeah. "It's the economy, stupid."
(Just a quote, not calling you stupid, Denver)
 
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The GOP chairman's primary job is to raise money. Steele was terrible at that, leaving the party in debt, based on some estimations I've read.

The interesting thing is how little it actually mattered in the last election cycle. In the brave new Citizens United world, corporations can dump massive sums of money into adds and other political operations without revealing the source. For the GOP, it almost makes traditional fund raising obsolete.

This coming presidential election is going to be fascinating (and by that, I mean, horrifying). If you thought the anti-Democrat adds were rough this last time around...just wait.
 
Denver said:
My guess is that, if this is a wide-spread house cleaning, they will more and more de-emphasize Palin (who, also, I thought was only drawn forward as a response to Hillary).
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The Republican party isn't or hasn't doing anything to emphasize Palin since the election. She is her own publicity machine and she is good at it.

I expect she will keep doing what she's doing and it will both shrink her popularity and solidify her base. When the time comes she may not have the support to get far in the primary but she will have enough to influence the debate.

Assuming some pissed off caribou doesn't try and make an example of her. ;)
 
ParrotPirate said:
I wish the Dems would get their balls back!
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I think they were buried with LBJ.

Seriously, who was the last completely unapologetic democrat of national importance?

Wellstone and Feingold were great, but they weren't exactly making waves nationally.

Gore sort of fits the bill, but he "came to Jesus" after losing the election. He was the definition of a wimpy dem in that campaign.
 
DavidJames said:
The Republican party isn't or hasn't doing anything to emphasize Palin since the election. She is her own publicity machine and she is good at it.

I expect she will keep doing what she's doing and it will both shrink her popularity and solidify her base. When the time comes she may not have the support to get far in the primary but she will have enough to influence the debate.

Assuming some pissed off caribou doesn't try and make an example of her. ;)
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I think the issue with Palin is that, while they are not emphasizing her, the tea party has become a force they feel they either need to deal with, or take advantage of, and Palin, from what I can see, is sort of the tea party's queen.
 
Thunder said:
...but seriously, good move for the GOP. this guy sucked big time.
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He wasn't really that bad, IMO, he simply had no spine to stand up to the far right. I was so proud of him when he stood up to Rush Limbaugh, then so ashamed when he reversed himself. That was the beginning of the end for Michael Steele.
 
Denver said:
I think the issue with Palin is that, while they are not emphasizing her, the tea party has become a force they feel they either need to deal with, or take advantage of, and Palin, from what I can see, is sort of the tea party's queen.
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It will be interesting and fun, kind of, to see how this plays out in the next year.
 
Tricky said:
He wasn't really that bad, IMO, he simply had no spine to stand up to the far right. I was so proud of him when he stood up to Rush Limbaugh, then so ashamed when he reversed himself. That was the beginning of the end for Michael Steele.
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I think I'm always going to remember that as the moment I stopped taking the RNC seriously as representing Republicans. When the chairman is backing down from a sensationalist talk radio host for no good reason, it's conceding control of the party to the squeaky wheel. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but sometimes the squeaky wheel needs to get replaced.
 
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