What is with this guy? The republican party is going to stay dead with him

[Questor]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-01-05-steele-gop-book_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[ms]

You don't like black people?

[dukkillr]

"We must support Republican officials who assert these principles," he writes. "When elected Republicans vote against Republican principles, the voters must withhold their support — withhold it vigorously and consistently."

The horror!  I'd say much of what he wrote is spot on true.  The Bush presidents did preside over giant increases in government spending.  The first one did raise taxes.

Can you give us an actual breakdown of what he said that you didn't like?

[yellowtail3]

What is with this guy? The republican party is going to stay dead with him

I, too, would like to know - how is it that Mr. Steele is going to keep the Repubs dead? What is it in his book - or just that article? - that you're referring to, in the title of the thread?

Fill me in...

[Sourdough]

I haven't looked at the video, not interested.  But I would like to comment on what I see wrong with the Republican Party.  The Democrats are pretty much united.  And they vote as a block.  The Republicans are not united, they are all going in different directions.  They all answer what is conservatism differently.  You've got hard line conservatives, Moderate Conservatives, Liberal Conservatives, and the party cannot decide which way to go.  And they are all too hard headed to compromise.  So they are always split.

[Questor]

He is amplifying the general criticism of the party, and articulating a lame vision of the future of the party. It's not a question of whether it's true. It's an issue of vision and the future of the party.

[dukkillr]

He is amplifying the general criticism of the party, and articulating a lame vision of the future of the party. It's not a question of whether it's true. It's an issue of vision and the future of the party.

I didn't get that out of the article, please expand on this.

[Graybeard]

You don't like black people?

Actually I kinda sorta more or less don't tho I am perfectly willing to look at each as an individual and decide case by case person by person whether I do or don't. Truthfully tho, most I really don't like. But then there are a whole lotta white folks I don't like also. Ya might say I'm an "equal opportunity disliker".

[Black Eagle]

I have some good friends on the RNC and the Party is a war zone. There are three factions: 1) the neo-conservatives who are big spenders and effectively want to promote democracy through conquest; 2) the Christian conservatives who want to wipe out Islam, stop all abortions, and make certain that no science that contradicts the Bible creeps into education; and 3) the old line fiscal/ foreign policy conservatives who were once followers of Barry Goldwater. The first two groups have a weak base comprised of mostly Southern and some Mid-Western white people. They are not strong enough to swing a national election without the third group.  Many of the people in the third group have defected to the Democrats in reaction to the first two groups and that cost the Republicans much of their former base.  Steele was brought in to try to bring the defectors back into the fold. That may happen in the short-term, due to reaction to Obama, but over the long haul most people who know about this stuff say it is an impossible task.

One Republican friend of mine says that today, "a Republican is a person who wants the government to stay out of his life but to intervene in the lives of people he doesn't like." 

[Questor]

Black Eagle:

Thanks for that insightful post. I suspected there was something like that going on. On reading your descriptions of the factions I realize that none of them are in any way appealing to me. Your final comment is interesting too. I certainly don't understand the oft discussed "keeping the government out of my life" concept. The government is there for a purpose, and both government and industry have a long history of scandals. We seem to remember the failings of regulation and forget the successes. Just in terms of food safety the federal government has been very helpful. I doubt we'd have catalytic converters without the federal government, and we'd consequently. I remember the pollution of the 60s and I don't want to go back there. It was largely government responsible for that big change.

To me, the essential difference between conservative and liberal ideals is that liberals want all kinds of safety nets and programs. The conservative is not necessarily opposed to any of those things, but wants to be sure our country is prosperous enough to afford it.

[gypsyman]

I think he's on the right track. Heard him on several commentary shows. Guy knows what he's talking about. He's trying to point out the short comings in the Republican party. Somebody in that party ought to listen to him. gypsyman

[Questor]

It sounds like public relations speak to me. GM runs ads to say something like We know our cars were garbage and we ran our business into the ground over a period of 50 years, but we want you to buy our cars anyway. That's what Steele sounds like to me: We cut our own throats by losing the trust of the people that voted for us, and now we want to be back in power so we can dole out our brand of pork barrel projects.

[nw_hunter]

I think he's on the right track. Heard him on several commentary shows. Guy knows what he's talking about. He's trying to point out the short comings in the Republican party. Somebody in that party ought to listen to him. gypsyman

"WELL" He speaks like a professional politician!

HE SAY'S
"We must quickly learn our lessons, return to our principles and move on............." Sounds like a Hank Snow song!

This could be any hack from any party spewing this dribble! What does it mean?...............NADA, ZIP,SQUAT

One Republican who escapes Steele's intraparty criticism is former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate. Then again, judging from the book's index, Palin is not mentioned at all in what the publisher calls Steele's "call to arms for grass-roots America."

What about the only true Constitutionalist in the party? (Ron Paul) Did he escape the attention of Steele?

To find a Republican today that actually believes in smaller government, you would either have to elect Paul, or go dig up Goldwater, and run him again.

_

[pmeisel]

The Republicans now are like the Democrats of the late 60s and early 70s -- too many cliques running in too many different directions.  The brief genius of Bush's campaign was that he was a face, a symbol, the "club for growth" big business boys and the "focus on the family" type Christian-right folks could both get behind.  That is now over.

But the parties have always morphed, every 30 to 50 years or so.  In a little while there will be some causes and some candidates some people can get behind.  The president we have now got elected because of a coalition of some people who believe in social programs, and some people who just hated Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld policy so bad they would have voted for Bozo the Clown....

[alsaqr]

Steele has said he wants an "assault weapons" ban.  Now Steele is attacking Obama because of the Democrats want an "assault weapons" ban.  Steele will probably flip again on this issue. 


http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d10-RNC-Chairman-Michael-Steele-has-short-memory-about-socalled-assault-weapons

 

Q: Should people have access to buy assault weapons?

A: Society should draw lines. What do you need an assault weapon for, if you're going hunting? That's overkill. But I don't think that means you go to a total ban for those who want to use gun for skeet shooting or hunting or things like that But what's the point of passing gun laws if we're not going to enforce them? If you want to talk about gun control, that's where you need to start. We've got 300 gun laws on the books right now. At the end of the day, it's about how we enforce the law
 

[ms]

You don't like black people?

Actually I kinda sorta more or less don't tho I am perfectly willing to look at each as an individual and decide case by case person by person whether I do or don't. Truthfully tho, most I really don't like. But then there are a whole lotta white folks I don't like also. Ya might say I'm an "equal opportunity disliker".

HA HA