It is obvious to me that the RNC does not “get it” and probably never will. The Establishment GOP doesn’t like conservatives. They never have and they never will. If they don’t want us…fine. We’ll see how long they last as a middle of the road party.

Because Mr. Steele, you are proving to be the moderate that so many here at Redstate feared. In addition, as you sit around worrying more about your face time on TV, and then talking trash, the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty has more organization, money and members than the RNC apparently has. I say apparently because their is no membership info on any RNC sites that I have found. Ron freakin’ Paul and his radical supporters have a better organization already going, and they have no more intention in supporting the Republican party than the man in the moon. In fact, they are infiltrating the Republican party websites in order to convince the Conservatives to come with them, which is even more so fracturing the Republican party.

Mr. Steele, who are you, what are you promoting, what are your goals for the Republican party, do you have any other plans other than a tech angle, what are you doing to gain a grassroots effort with boots on the ground, and most importantly WHY DID YOU MAKE SUCH IRRESPONSIBLE REMARKS ABOUT RUSH LIMBAUGH? According to Rush today, he backed you when you were in some contentious campaigns, and supported you with airtime which Rush rarely does. I don’t question the Redstaters who for the most part knew what to expect from you, but, I do question if you really did cut some kind of backroom deal with the 168 who voted for you, and not on the first ballot.

If he continues to make “novice” mistakes, then we are hurting.
If he learns from the mistake, then good for him, (and us!)

If he truly wants Obama’s Marxist plan to succeed, we have the wrong man in this lead position.

If he continues to attack the leading conservative in country, we have the wrong man in this lead position.

If he truly believes the comments he made, we have the wrong man in this lead position, and he has been fooling us in a masterful fashion.

If he does not truly believe the comments he made, then I don’t know whether to believe him when he makes the next comment!?

The media baited him and he fell headfirst for it.

Gov. Steele, you are better than that. Please show us what you are made of!

REgards

Not wishing to propel word games, but Rush pointed out to Steele he’s the head of the RNC not the Repub. Party. Suggested he get to work improving the primaries system. Hearing the audio of the rappers and Mr. Steele, wherein he allowed the rappers to characterize the look of the last Republican Convention as a bunch of Nazis was breathtaking. If Steele can’t even stand up to being called a Nazi on national television, he has no business being head of anything. P.S. Rush said he himself isn’t head of the party, doesn’t want to be, and would be embarrassed to be.

As I stated in Hogan’s Front Page “Of course we want Obama to Fail” Diary (here) I understand some of the moderation, and frankly their were several Diaries here before (if we could see a list of all Diary titles from December and January you’d see them) with the same desire to Moderate Tone… understandable from the Directors not wanting to turn this into the HuffPoo or DailyKooks, but… you know….. Nice to see more people “getting it” and deciding to climb aboard now that it has become a bandwagon….

I think that Mr. Steele will come around …. as one who supported him for the post from the start, I have sent along my “concerns” about his position now…. As I’d been on the (on record here -RS:) I want 0blahblah to fail since before the Inauguration over the “give him a chance” line.

And don’t forget to stop by Erick’s other FP Save The Country By Helping Obama Fail item to sign up for the RedState Army if you haven’t already.

As for RS moderation at first… Again, I understand the concern over tone… Nice to see most have found the nuance of the “Fail” message they can embrace….

You go elected, yes. But that’s just the beginning of the journey.

Now let’s see you do something. So far, I haven’t seen much.

I choose to support individual conservative candidates. The RNC is quickly becoming irrelevant. They are stuck in the 1970′s both technically, and message wise and refuse to bend their stiff necks. Time for them to change or drift off into the political history books.

BTW, Steele looks like a mistake. I am NOT impressed so far. Obama lite is will not win elections.

I did not see the CNN clip of Hugley & Steele but
if someone would have told me that the “GOP convention ‘looked like Nazi Germany’” – I would have said hey wait a minute – what are you talking about?
How come punks like Hugley can get on TV and say crap like this?
The dems are trying like hell to turn the US into Cuba on steroids and
they say crap like this???
These people are not Americans.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/DL_Hughley_GOP_convention_looked_like_0302.html

I just sent this email to the RNC after spending 20 minutes on the phone with them … they tried to send me to voice twice before they finally would listen.

Dear Chairman Steele,

I spent 20 minutes chewing the ear off a nice lady in your office. She was kind enough to let me vent. I can’t believe that you would be so short sighted to attack the only person leading the conservative message in this country. I hope this was a rookie mistake but only how you respond to this will show if you understand what you are up against.

Conservatives in this country are fed up with the Republican party. The party absolute blew it in the last four years. Any vestige of believing Republicans acting as Democrat-lite will win elections should have been obliterated after McCain. We are desperate for someone in the Republican leadership to get it and start acting like they understand. This means vocal, passionate, loud and repeated opposition to the Democrats attempt to eliminate Liberty and Capitalism in this country. There is not an in-between position you can take … you either make the party stand for something or we don’t need the party anymore. Conservatives will find a new messenger for our principles. If you want to ignite the passion in the country, you can do three things.

1. Announce that the Republican party is committed to Capitalism, Free Markets, Limited Government and Liberty without exception. There are no deviations from these principles and the Party does not want anyone representing them who are not committed to these ideas. The Republican Party remains in permanent and irresolute opposition to President Obama and the Democrat party’s attempt to expand the power of government and bring socialism to our economy … there will be no compromise on this.

2. Announce that you are actively seeking primary candidates for Senator Specter in 2010 and Senators Snowe and Collins in the future. Invite them to caucus with the Democrats. Explain that the Republican Party would rather have 38 Senators of principle than an extra three who don’t support our principles. Devon Generally announced in Pennsylvania today. I hope you are working to know him and what he stands for. Perhaps citizen legislators is what the Party needs … the professionals have sure ruined things lately. Announce that every race in 2010 will include a conservative candidate of principle representing the Republican party .. even if it is not today’s incumbent.

3. Announce your intention to attend and speak at every Tea Party that is being organized across the country. Bring attention to outrage from millions of Americans and tap into this energy for the future of the Party. March 15 at 3 pm in Cincinnati … I will see you there.

If you do this, you will have so much support and money flowing to you that you will not be able to spend it all. I only gave to Fred Thompson last year but will write a check to the RNC as soon put this into practice. You ran for RNC Chairman to make a difference … if you are the leader you claim to be now is the time to lead. Half measures and politically correct talk will not work. Get mad, get passionate and lead the party to reclaim our country …otherwise get out of the way.

Sincerely,

Scott Mustian

Steele’s ‘rookie mistake’ was against the formidable forensic talents of…DL Hughley, the Jimmy JJ Walker of the 1990s.

I’m not buying that this was a lapse. I think it showcased an essential timidity on the part of Steele, particularly when faced with defending a white man who has made controversial statements about black men (remember Donovan McNab).

If that is his button – if Steele is going to pull punches to avoid reruns of the incident where Democratic provocateurs tossed oreo cookies at him – then we’re scr*wed.

Why would anyone who is looking for support attack the most popular and most beloved character of that party? At best he’s incompetent, at worst he’s greedy and stupid and thinks he can run the party while dividing it from Rush Limbaugh. Steele should have told the MSM that he loved Rush Limbaugh instead of separating himself from the “de facto leader of the Republican Party”.

Sorry, but he sounds like “same-o-same-o”. RUSH articulates conservatism better than anyone. And so-called conservative leader who runs from RUSH’s positions is running from conservatism…

I am sorry to say as each day passes I don’t think the RNC idiots have a clue…they lost for becoming moderates now as soon as RUSH states the obvious and some MSM Liberal brings it up the cowards run for cover…we need a new party…moderate, limp-wristed sissies need not apply.

Without gettting into personalities, if the RNC chair cannot agree that Obama’s embrace of a mixed economy is counter to what the GOP is, he doesn’t understand the party very well. If he is so weak he will carry water for the other side, he cannot deliver victories. Either way, it probably would serve both Steele and the RNC well to have a quiet change in management.

As a supporter of his I have to say he made this same “mistake” while running for RNC head by throwing out comments on color with regards to the Republican Party…I personally as an American Indian, way longer oppressed than blacks find the whole situation DISGUSTING!

I had hoped he was more developed emotionally to see that this country while having made mistakes in the past has grown and leveled the playing field for everyone and that Republicans were a major reason for that. I had hoped that he could show the black community how the Democrat party keeps them in a subservient role and kills their chances of “having it all”. I had hoped that Mr Steele was a mature man who could see through the bias of not only the Democrats but the pravda media that supports them….I WAS WRONG!

Which just goes to show HOPE does make something so!

The GOP is a joke. Unfortunate for the rest of us as they are all we have to fight for us. The Democratic party and the media have defined the party for years, and the GOP have allowed it to occur. Until they are able to define themselves we are at their mercy. Even Mr. Steele does not agree with Rush, could he just have stated he is a conservative voice within the party? Does the new chairman realize how upset most of us are with the Obama socialist policies?

When David Frum was supporting Steele so hard on his new site that Steele was not going to be a voice for conservative principles. Sadly on Saturday, Steele proved he is not going to be a voice for conservative principles. In addition to his comments to DL Hugley, I was disappointed to see him in attendence at the black convention this weekend where the conversation was all about Pell Grants and how the white man has held the black man down…. what did he think he would advance in that room that he spent his time there? and… no, Mr. Steele you are not the head of the GOP, as Rush reminded you today — you are the leader of the RNC and it is time to get off TV and do something constructive for the RNC.

I have to say that the people who are organizing the Tea Party revolts want little to do with the GOP: They are part of the problem. That Steele could dismiss as “Ugly” the speech that Rush gave highlights why the RNC is not getting donations or support from grassroots efforts. I suspect Steele will have a retraction and clarification later.

http://amfreenet.com/2009/03/what-were-you-thinking-mr-steele/

Perfect, you said that brilliantly, I would like to be informed if you receive a response.

… in the finance department in Washington. He couldn’t have been nicer, but the poor fella was not well equipped to reply to my concerns.

Why did I call him, well, he was the only one I could get through to. Member services is either so inundated or they are simply ignoring phone calls. I was calling to inform them to remove me from all mailing lists. I will not be giving to the RNC this year, unless they get their act together (message, plan, etc.)

He said that the offices have just been flooded with calls. He even asked if I was a “Rush” listener. I said that it shouldn’t matter if I was or not (I am, of course), but that I was actually sparked by Cantor’s comments and were ultimately called to action as a result of Steele’s comments and failure to push back on Hughley (what does it say about our chairman if he can’t even battle DL well).

While I ranted a bit, I kept it to dull roar and like I said the man couldn’t have been nicer. After all, it’s not his fault. Unfortunately, he wasn’t equipped with the best of talking points and started down the path of the party is trying to contrast and get a message of strong defense and limited government out. And that it’s going to take time, but the party leadership is finding their voice in crafting the new republican message… I stopped him there.

I reminded him that what the RNC needs is to re-find not redefine. That the path to victory is there in plain sight. But if the party is going to eschew conservatives in favor of some kind of new inclusiveness get ready to be in the wilderness for much longer.

There was much more I did say, and in the end (although I’m cynical anything results from it) he’s going to “deliver my message” to leadership. I thanked him for his time and he’s removed me from their mailing list (thank God no more fundraising letters).

I have little hope for the RNC, and I believe that only citizen leadership at this point can take back this party. The people currently in charge only have so much backbone and passion to be the kind of leaders we need them to be.

God bless them, but they’re just too weak and beholden to something other than us, the grassroots, and the party base.

Can the RNC afford to lose people like me: young, involved, and tech-friendly? Guess so.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19517.html

Excerpt:

“Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says he has reached out to Rush Limbaugh to tell him he meant no offense when he referred to the popular conservative radio host as an “entertainer” whose show can be “incendiary.”

“My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Steele said in a telephone interview. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. … There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.”

“I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking,” Steele said. “It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people … want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not.”

“I’m not going to engage these guys and sit back and provide them the popcorn for a fight between me and Rush Limbaugh,” Steele added. “No such thing is going to happen. … I wasn’t trying to slam him or anything.”

…and the heavy pulling is coming only from the left.

What Steele must learn is that Rush Limbaugh is, in fact, the “moderate” voice of the Conservative Movement.

There are millions of us out here that feel that he is not “incendiary” enough! Rush actually gets criticized for that. I am one who has criticized him for not adequately going after the rino/moderate-left/transnationalists within the GOP Hierarchy. And, no apologies for that, either.

Steele must realize that the Conservative Base is all out of patience and will not tolerate seeing the GOP move any increment or degree left of where Rush Limbaugh is. Limbaugh is the boundary marker. Don’t go past Michael. I hope/pray that Steele will go, hat in hand, and humbly ask Rush for guidance. Become his apprentice, of sorts. And stay off of the damned tv interviews for a long while. If not, he’d best resign now. DD

We need a conservative in charge – not someone who agrees with the left and throws Rush under the bus. Didn’t he see the standing o’s? Even CNN thinks Steele is done after his interview.

… and feel a lot better (reserve right to change said feelings tomorrow).

Two things, though.

First, and not to beat up Steele any more, but why wait this long to respond to Rush. It makes him look responsive but kinda weak. Next time, respond immediately and forcefully. Well, actually next time don’t make such a comment and avoid issue altogether.

Second, I believe that if he shows himself to more “artful” (was this a word ever really used before the Messiah graced us with his presence) like he was in response to the Politico article then all will be well. It was an unfortunate off day for Steele, and he can ill afford too many more.

Now, about those Tea Party events around the nation…

Does this mean he not be da man anymore?

Asked if he planned to apologize, Steele said: “I wasn’t trying to offend anybody. So, yeah, if he’s offended, I’d say: Look, I’m not in the business of hurting people’s feelings here. … My job is to try to bring us all together.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19517.html

but here goes.

While not disagreeing with any of the statements about how offended conservatives on this site are by what Steele said, I would like you for just a few minutes, to try to see this from another perspective. Let’s start with
my post from yesterday. I do think that to some (probably small) extent, Steele understandably identifies with Obama. And I don’t doubt Steele has been pummeled in that spot often enough that it is sensitive to any other incidental approaches. And I think Rush’s words hit him squarely in that spot. I don’t think Rush meant to hit him in that spot. And I think that in some sense those of us who love Rush are reacting to Steele’s remarks the same way that Steele was reacting to Rush’s remarks.

The only way past this impasse, if for each of us to identify with the other. In one of Pat Buchanan’s books, he writes about being on his high school football team. This was well before the civil rights era, and the team wound up with a black player. Pat doesn’t talk about how quickly the player was accepted by the team, but at some point he was. And then the team was scheduled to play against some team whose coach said that they could play the game, but only if the black player didn’t take the field. In turn, Pat’s team said there was no way they were taking the field without him being allowed to play, and in the end, his team forfeited the game. Until we have that kind of mutual bonding, we won’t be able to work as a team to set the country back on the right path.

I think after Steele and Rush talked, Steele is identifying more with Rush. I think that will help him avoid this pitfall in the future.

As I said in my post yesterday, I am going to disagree with Steele in the future because he is libertarian and I am paleo. When such disagreements occur I will do my utmost to convince him of the correctness of my position over his. But I do not intend to throw him under the bus the way I would happily throw Specter, Snow, or Collins under the bus. I am not asking any of you to forgive Steele. I am asking you to accept his apology and shake hands. By all means, watch him like a hawk afterward. I certainly intend to.

Yeah, I would have preferred Ken Blackwell too. But we didn’t win that fight. And elections, even for the RNC have consequences. We now have to live with those consequences. Rush (and Hannity, and Levin, and Glenn Beck and all the rest) will continue to be the voices of our philosophical leadership. But Steele is now one of the prominent voices of our political leadership in exile, just like McConnell and Boehner. When they err, we should chasten them, but not throw them out.