Steele Doesn't Know If GOP Ready To Lead
By Reid Wilson
RNC chair Michael Steele doesn't think his party can take back the House in '10, and even if they do, he doesn't know if the GOP is ready.
Appearing on Sean Hannity's nationally syndicated show the same day his new book, "Right Now," hit store shelves, Steele said the GOP is set for "nice pick-ups" in the House. But, he said, at the moment there aren't enough candidates to take out enough Dems.
"I can't give a number [of seats the GOP will win] yet, because like I said, we're just now beginning to look at the races," Steele said. Asked if GOPers will take back the House, Steele confessed: "Not this year."
"I don't know all the candidates yet," Steele continued, according to a transcript of the show. "We still have some vacancies that need to get filled, but then the question we need to ask ourselves is: If we do that, are we ready?"
In fact, when Hannity followed up on the point, Steele said he doesn't know if the GOP is ready to take back the reins of power.
"I don't know. And that's what I'm assessing and evaluating right now. Those candidates who are looking to run have to be anchored in these principles," he said, referring to 5 conservative ideals he lays out in his new tome. "If they don't [anchor themselves], then they'll get to Washington, and they'll start drinking that Potomac River water, and they'll get drunk with power and throw the steps out the window."
It is the latest in a series of comments Steele has made that have GOP strategists on Capitol Hill privately fuming. In Sept., GOP leaders told Steele to stay out of the policy arena during a heated confrontation in House Min. Leader John Boehner's office.
Members of Congress and top GOP aides are livid with Steele's latest comments. Buzz early Tuesday surrounded just how aggressive Congressional aides and political strategists should push back, a delicate task when Steele controls the RNC's purse strings.
Meanwhile, political observers are not yet willing to sign Dems' death warrant, but the possibility that the GOP can wrest the Speaker's gavel from Nancy Pelosi has grown in recent weeks. HuffPo's Tom Edsall wrote late Monday that "there's even an outside chance" GOPers will take back the House. Cook Political Report's projections suggest GOPers are headed for a 20-30 seat pickup, just short of what would be required for a majority.
Audio of Steele's interview is available on Hannity's website for subscribers.
Updated: NRCC communications director Ken Spain is measured in his reaction to Steele's comments.
"The NRCC's goal - as the campaign arm of the House Republican Conference - has always been to recapture the majority in 2010. Independent political analysts and even liberal columnists have stated that Republicans have a very real shot at taking back the majority in 2010. Make no mistake about it, we are playing to win," Spain said in an email to Hotline OnCall.
Updated II: We misheard Cook Political Report's Charlie Cook, for which we apologize.
If John Boehner is going to be chosen as the Speaker of the House, I DO NOT want the Republicans to take over the House. He has NOT shown himself to be a leader. He has NOT shown himself to be a fighter either! Give me Bachmann, Blackburn, Flake, or Pence. Boehner can take more time to keep his tan.
I'm afraid Michael Steele is a nice guy but not a strong leader himself. What is the saying, it takes one to know one. Maybe he can't see the strength and potential leadership in others because he doesn't know what to look for. And if the Dede S. debacle is any indication...well let's just say that Michael should stand aside and let stronger leaders bring in a new era.
And Mike, I agree that Bachmann or Pence would be great leaders. I don't know Blackburn and Flake enough to have an opinion.
I was on a conference call with Mr Steele awhile ago. He spent most of the time patting backs of many, rather than talking about "real" things we can do. I was so disappointed in his leadership. I watched Hannity last night and his answer was shocking. Way to go in showing leadership and strategy. Mr Steele, spend more time doing and less time talking and writing books. I also agree with the Boehner assessment.
Steele should resign today after his comment. Another case of Steele not clutching in brain with mouth; What dribble. The Republican party needs better than this, not wimps!
if anyone is not ready to lead, it is Michael Steele!
In one sense, Michael Steele was exactly right - HE certainly is not ready to lead! And he never will be - what an embarrasment, right when great things could be happening if someone competent was in the job.
It is time for Steele to to move on.
Not a penny more to Republicans until Steele is gone!
Gawd...
Yank this guy outta there and put Palin in his place. Then, we'll start winning elections again.
Michael Steele need to be replace. We need a conservative (new leader) that can lead the Republican Party.
GET RID OF STEEL, HE IS A LIBERAL IN DISGUISE.
Get rid of Steele NOW! He's poison to the party and isn't helping. How about we get someone in the GOP who is actually ready to oh I don't know lead or something? The Dems have practically handed the landslide over to the GOP and this is their response? Look at the Mass race with Brown, the GOP isn't even backing the guy! I'm so tired of this pantywaist RINO party. If you aren't going to man up then get the H out of the way and make room for someone who is!
With an attitude like that we certainly won't win. He has had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate his abilities and this is a very poor performance. He should be sacked. This statement is completely unforgivable. The guy needs to walk off the field right now. No wonder we have been losing.
I'm in the minority here, but Steele is right to say something the GOP machinery needs to hear.
Those candidates who are looking to run have to be anchored in these principles...
Otherwise, we're just changing the pigs at the trough.
if mr. steele is not ready to lead, perhaps he needs to change professions and go pump gas at a station or flip burgers.
he needs to be replaced with a winner, and someone with a more positive attitude.
I agree regarding this bunch of congressional Republicans - but not in the way Michael Steele means.
Michael Steele would like Republicans to conduct themselves more like cool superfly Motown Record Producers, and he's just the guy to teach us the moves.
Ugh.
Won't some head hunter in the rap music business please hire Steele away from the poor, cursed Republicans? Maybe then we could start getting ourselves right.
Can someone tell me what's wrong with Steele?
He acts as if he's a talking head and not the leader of a major political party. Let's ask the Socialist Workers Party head and see if they say 'well not this year, actually probably never, but would you like to buy a newspaper subscription?'
What a display of knee-jerk animosity. The message may sting, but Steele is absolutely right. It is smart to question whether the GOP is ready to lead. Democrats thought they were ready to lead. The Democratic base thought everything would be great if they could just take congress. They're sorely disappointed. They're watching their Democrat-controlled congress triplicate every flaw they enjoyed accusing Republicans of while inventing brand new ways to screw up. Rather than taking Steele's comments as an affront, we should take them as a challenge. We're probably not ready. We need more than a message. We need a serious agenda and candidates who can be depended on to represent their constituents rather than their doners. We need to get ready. Steel is dead on.
Michael Steele should resign as head of the RNC
The agenda that Mr. Steele and others like him is that they have lost the agenda. The only agenda that the GOP needs is what the "tea party" movement is crying out for CONSERVATISM. As for leaders SARAH Palin.
Steele, McCain, and Bush tried to draw America to the Party with "compassionate conservatism," and they failed. In the process, they managed to alienate the base so severely that many of us stayed home in 2006 and 2008. We lost to a punk kid with less job experience than most college graduates, terrorist pals, and politics so far left he makes Lenin look Libertarian.
If the Republican party cannot start loudly and clearly articulating conservative principles, we are going to see a real third party movement, and guarantee permanent Democrat victory. This is not just another election. A failure here means America dies and a European-style welfare state will rise in its place.
The base is energized. So is the rest of the electorate. If the Republicans could present a coherent plan for dealing with the present crisis, they could grab power for the next 30 years. If they let the RINO's run the show, a third party will form, and the Democrats will be able to continue eviscerating America.
Resign, Chairman Steele. Get out of the way so we canfight the Democrats, rather than our own.
I was outraged over this interview with Michael Steele last night. The Republicans have been handed a silver platter of issues to counterpoint the Democrats and instead of articulating the strength of the Republican message, we hear nothing but weakness and lot of "I don't knows". This is NOT leadership, and it's not inspiring--it's demoralizing.
Wake up RNC. This should be an embarrassment to everyone within the top levels of the party.
Michael Steele should resign.
Many of you here are calling out Steele for his comments. Yet only a couple have named names of those who they think are capable of leading.
I agree with Lydia completely. While Steele's message may sting, and apparently it has stung many of you, his point is on target.
Who is the leader of the Republicans?
Who puts forth the conservative points of view in the Republican Party?
I don't want another McCain put out in front, I want a true CONSERVATIVE who can put forth the message and carry it nationally.
Pence, Flake, Bachman are a great start. I'd actually like to see Liz Cheney out there delivering the message. She's a killer and on target each and every time.
While I love Palin to death, she is not the answer here.
Time for Steele to go. This is pathetic.
It appears that the Republicans won the governorships in NJ, VA and came this close to picking up NY-23 IN SPITE of Steele's so-called leadership, and not because of it.
Time for Mchael to call it a day. Its 2010 or else. If he doesn't get it by now, its time to say Good night.
Pence, Flake, Bachmann, Palin, Liz Cheney? So you want the inmates leading the asylum, then?
Ha ha...teabaggers unite.
I never considered Palin for Head of the RNC but...wow...that could work! Bye, Michael!
Michael Steele is all about MICHAEL STEELE!
So now that we have a Black president, the morons who run the RNC behind the scence thought there should be a Black "leader" of the opposition.
Steele has time to "write" a book and promote it on TV. He also has time to give paid speeches (see recent Washington Times article).
The RNC leader should be quietly working behind the scenes raising money and grooming candidates. Steele is just too much in love with himself to be effective.
Time for him to go!
Is there anyone else here who gets the impression Steele is working against the Republicans and once thrown out, we'd see him suddenly working in some way for the Democrats?
Steele has got to go.
Better yet, circumvent the RNC and those morons by donating to individual candidates.
Steele has a point. The Republicans have not shown themselves to be ready. They have followed the Tea Party movement. They have not led. They have stayed on the sidelines waiting to see which way the wind blows. They have been slow to join the fight against Obama's socialist onslaught. They were ready to compromise on socialized medicine until they saw where the people were. They are still on both sides of cap and trade. They funded Dede who was for card check. If they take the house, they will be ready to congratulate themselves and go back to business as usual.
It's not like the RNC is conservative/libertarian anymore. They don't support free markets-- they support the Federal Reserve printing endless money, bailouts for incompetents, socialism, welfarism for corporations, entitlements for prescription health care, nationalization of education, and everything the Democrats love to do (albiet to a higher degree). Remember, it was Bush who socialized health care first, with full support of the RNC-- and now we complain when Obama finishes Bush's policies? What a joke!
The RNC doesn't support fiscal conservatism, seeing how the last eight years gave us more spending than any administration since LBJ. They don't put America first, and instead the wage war needlessly around the world to prop up Arab dictators, a la Woodrow Wilson's progressive internationalist philosophy. We are not the worlds' policemen! The UN does not have any authority or soverignty over our troops.
I could give a crap less about Hamid Karzai or any puppet dictator.. which guess what? Pisses people off to strap a bomb and blow themselves up! Bush was following Woodrow Wilson's policies word for word. War against Terrorism is a utter joke, as has been every other progressive-liberal war this and last century. It's nothing but a power-grab by bureaucrats. Now they're trying to put nude-cams into our airports... how conservative it is we're yielding all this power to bureaucrats!
When the RNC realizes that it needs to put America first, and actually put forth a platform and candidates that limit spending, inflation, progressive-liberal wars and violations of the Constitution, then the RNC will be able to call themselves conservative, and appeal to the majority of Americans. Until then, every war-loving "conservative", like Bush Hannity and McCain, would best join the Democrat party, and let their true colors shine.
Michael Steele gets a little easier to understand when you find out who's coaching him:
http://bit.ly/3ppyiu
(satire)
Alright! I haven't heard such right on stuff from any but a few republicans. I agree totally. What's the point of winning the majority and then having another Bush administration? This is why we need to get rid of the Charlie Crists and Dede S. Steele hasn't always been up to snuff, but in this case, the NRCC should be the one under the microscope.
The GOP right now needs what the "TEA PARTY" is currently articulating. It should jettison all efforts to cuddle into the arms of socialists and communists. The best GOP leader to do this is SARAH PALIN. Replace Michael Steele with SARAH PALIN now!!
I'm not so sure that Sarah Palin is the right person for the job. We need somebody who is going to be able to focus on keeping a unified, nationalized message for the next two election cycles. If she is planning on running in 2012, she will not be able to do so as Chairwoman of the RNC.
On the other hand, I don't know if she could win. She was savaged by the media and unable to strike back effectively thanks to McCain and Co. A lot of BS that was flung at her stuck because she couldn't hit back. If she is compromised (for now,) on the basis of these attacks, the RNC job might be just perfect.
Who else can do this job? I've seen a few good names like Mike Pence, Jeff Flake, Michelle Bachman and Liz Cheney are all great ideas. Heck, bring out Lynn Cheney or Darth Dick. I'd take Lon Cheney over Steele at this point.
What idiot attacks Rush Limbaugh in one of his first actions as head of the RNC?
The truth hurts, doesn't it? Michael Steele may not be the positive leader we've come to expect from those who are supposed to convince us we can accomplish our mission, but at least he's got the guts to admit what everyone already knows: The GOP has become a weak, ineffectual party against a steam-rolling, determined party such as the Democrats. Probably because they're not much different.
He was only saying what Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, and a few other true conservatives have been saying by doing things like endorsing the Conservative, Doug Hoffman, against the RNC-backed Dede Scuzzyfava.
As a democrat, I really hope Michael Steele stays on as RNC chair!
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