GOP Not Ready to Lead?

by Scott H. Payne on January 5, 2010

This is some refreshingly candid commentary from Michael Steele.

Tagged as: 2010, GOP, Michael Steele

Scott is a sometimes blogger and social media consultant/principal at East Side Media. In addition to writing at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen, Scott is also a founding member of Beams and Struts and a fellow at the Canadian Council for Democracy's blog the Commons. You can reach Scott via email and follow him on Twiter.

{ 15 comments }

1 Mike at The Big Stick January 5, 2010 at 11:17 am

I will second that they aren’t ready for a return to power, however after watching the last year I’m not really convinced Democrats are ready to lead either – or at least the President.

2 North January 5, 2010 at 1:37 pm

Odd Mike I’d think you’d be pleased. The left wing thought they’d elected “the One” and instead they ended up with another calculating Clinton administration sans the fun times in the Oval Office. Ya gotta admit he’s turned out a lot more timid and centrist than he was painted eh?

As for Steele, are we sure he’s not a Dem plant? Probably not, I mean a double agent would actually try to avoid ticking off his dupes like that. Is it just haplessness?

3 mike farmer January 5, 2010 at 9:43 pm

North,

Obama might have been temporarily squeezed to the center due to his ineptness to get what he wants, but what he wants is not centrist.

4 North January 6, 2010 at 9:58 am

Maybe Mike, but it doesn’t matter what he wants. What matters is what he gets. Since he’s failed to roll out any steel tariffs (or even try for protectionism for that matter) he so far has Bush Minor beat handily on the issue of trade for instance. Whether that’s because he’s incompetent, because he lied to his left wingers and is actually a moderate or because he’s afraid of the polls and thus is cowardly is open to interpretation. But he’s still a damn sight better than what the other side of the aisle offered.

5 Jaybird January 6, 2010 at 10:02 am

Tentatively in 100% agreement.

If HCR (isn’t it weird how in the 90′s we were terrified of HRC, now we’re terrified of HCR???) anyway, if HCR tanks, I will become Obama’s biggest fan.

6 North January 6, 2010 at 10:23 am

I’m sure that’ll be some consolation to him Jay. Though considering how his base will probably want to run him out of town on a rail if he doesn’t deliver something significant with the supermajorities he was handed I don’t know if he’d want to make that trade.

We’ll see though. It seems to be past most of its’ hurdles, warts and all.

7 Jaybird January 6, 2010 at 10:54 am

If I knew it’d guarantee a second term and gridlock, I’d provide the necessary to make sure we could have another Ken Starresque investigation.

8 North January 6, 2010 at 10:58 am

You are a patriot Jay. No doubt about it.

9 Koz January 6, 2010 at 10:30 am

“Refreshingly candid”? There’s not very many people who take Michael Steele seriously, and frankly I doubt if you’re one of them.

10 Scott H. Payne January 6, 2010 at 11:51 am

I’m pretty agnostic as far as Steele goes. He seems genuinely torn between trying to chart a new direction for the party and feeling hewn to its base, which, I think, results in some off-kilter behaviour at times. But, honestly, as far as political answers in media go, I found Steele’s response to Hannity about the future of the GOP to be precisely as I described it, “refreshingly candid”. I got the sense that he really was speaking his mind.

11 Koz January 6, 2010 at 12:44 pm

The “principles” which are conveniently laid out in his new book, which AFAIK nobody has read. Somehow I doubt you would see this the same way if it were Rush Limbaugh or Hannity himself for that matter.

12 Scott H. Payne January 6, 2010 at 12:52 pm

So your argument is that no matter what I say I’m commenting in bad faith…

13 Koz January 6, 2010 at 1:12 pm

Not so much yours as his. Though now that I come to think of it, he might obtuse enough to genuinely believe it. To actually accomplish things in Washington will require GOP Congressmen to confront things that Steele has in general ran away from. More than that, Steele is really in no position to give anybody advice on anything. In contrast to Howard Dean, eg, no one really cares about his opinion including (I’m guessing) you.

14 Scott H. Payne January 6, 2010 at 1:33 pm

Gotcha. Well, whether he’s right or not and whether he’s influential or not, I still thought his comment was candid and for that I’ll give him (perhaps meager) points.

15 Art Deco January 9, 2010 at 4:24 pm

There are likely individual members of Congress and small collectives within the Republican caucus that retain an interest in promoting alternatives in public policy (some of those speaking in after hours sessions on C-SPAN on medical insurance I think are among them). Considered as a whole, the Republican caucus has lapsed into vacuity, and Mr. Boehner is as responsible as anyone. Kevin Williamson offers some thoughts here.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGM0ZmJlZmU0Yzg2YjM5YmIzM2M1YzEyN2JmNDcwODA=

Comments on this entry are closed.