Steele Doubles Down On Obstruction Message
By Reid Wilson
The RNC will launch a round of national radio ads touting the party's efforts to stand in the way of health care reform, chair Michael Steele announced Monday.
The 6-figure ad buy, hitting the airwaves Wednesday, features Steele himself arguing the GOP is blocking new entitlement programs that will hike costs.
"The Democrats are accusing us Republicans of trying to delay and stonewall their government takeover of health care. You know what? They're finally right," Steele says in the ad. "Democrats know America doesn't want this health care takeover, but they're arrogantly trying to jam it down our throats. This is our last chance to stop them."
At a press conference unveiling the ad, Steele unapologetically stuck to the message he first unveiled in a strategy memo sent out late last week.
"What we've been met with legislatively is a lot of whining and complaining and noise about Republicans obstructing and blocking health care reform," Steele said. "We wanted to stop and and slow down and prevent a takeover of our health care system, that this experiment is not the way to do it. And the bottom line still remains, that's exactly what we want to do. This is not in the best interest of the American people."
Meanwhile, Steele said, even though Dems have control over the legislative and executive branches, his rivals have been focusing on blaming the GOP for their shortcomings.
"They have the lever of power in their hands, and yet at every turn they look at others to blame. They look at others to call out, to embarrass, instead of addressing in an honest way what the American people want to address," he said.
As part of the campaign, RNC staffers will be sent to ND, NE, VA, AR, LA and CT -- home states of several Dems who are key swing votes in the health care debate. The RNC will hold tele-town hall meetings, including 2 scheduled for Monday, as well as an internet campaign aimed at drumming up support for the GOP's position.
In total, a GOP spokesperson said the party has spent $2M on its crusade against health care legislation since Aug.
Steele has landed in hot water for suggesting that some GOP members of Congress might come under attack if they vote with Dems on certain issues, but he said Monday he is confident that the party will remain united on health care.
"I feel really confident right now, given where certainly in the House and the Senate the Republican leadership has really laid out, I think, a well-founded case to stay together on this," he said. "I feel really good, as I know the leadership does, that Republicans are unified on this."