GOP Insiders: Steele Is A Liability
Many GOP operatives view RNC chairman Michael Steele as more of a burden to his party than a benefit, according to the latest National Journal Political Insiders Poll.
When 104 GOP Insiders were asked whether their party chairman was an asset or a liability, 71% said Steele was a liability, while only 20% said he was an asset. Another 9% said he was neither or both. By comparison, 61% of the 103 Dem Insiders who participated said that DNC head Tim Kaine was an asset and only 16% said he was a liability. Another 23% said he was neither.
GOP Insiders' assessment of Steele was harsh -- even GOP Insiders who called him an asset tended to give him backhanded compliments. Said one GOPer, "Congressional minorities need some guerrilla-style unpredictability. Steele just brings extra."
Those who saw Steele as a liability pulled few punches. One GOP Insider said, "Steele is unconnected to the fundraising establishment and uninspiring to the rank and file. He is gaffe-prone and lacks gravitas." And that was from one of Steele's milder critics.
The RNC press office did not respond to a request to comment on GOP Insiders' assessment of Steele.
While Kaine got much better treatment from Dem Insiders, there was a sense among many that he was so low-key he was almost a nonentity. Asked to assess the party chair, one Dem responded, "Who is the Democratic Party chairman? Once you identify him, I will be able to answer the question."
The Political Insiders also weighed in on whether they thought Barack Obama would be a one-term president. A whopping 90% of the Dem Insiders said no, while a plurality of GOP Insiders, 46 percent, said yes. A substantial 17 percent of the GOP Insiders said it was simply too soon to tell.
For complete results from this week's poll and all the Insiders' comments, click here.
Tim Kaine is likely just as unpopular with the dems; the difference is that they are so pie in the sky they won't even admit it in an anonymous poll.
Tim Kaine is awesome.
Delinquent in Massachusetts, but still, awesome nonetheless.
He gets the issues and gets the politics. Outside of that one election, which wasn't entirely his fault, he's doing a bang up job.
Anyone notice that Michael Steele has been absent in this Healthcare Reform debate? Guess his butt is laying low right now.. Better not go outside the Beltway.
Are there any ideas in the Republican Party that I can look forward to voting for in November?
Besides the circus side show of Massa, Andrew Breitbart, Dick Army, Tom Tancredo, Michael
Steele the Clown, Liz Cheney, Bill Kristol, Sarah from Wassila, Glenn Beck (on a Saudi-Wasabi-Islamist owned network, Fox News), Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter and the reactionary tea parties?
Google Michael Steele, RNC Leader and I see bickering over his leadership style and wasteful spending within the GOP. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin and the Steele branch of the new GOP leaves nothing to desire.
Google the Republican Healthcare Plan and I see there will be a push to "repeal" any plan that passes. Off course, we know this is political grandstanding because the Senate will need 67 votes to override a veto by Obama.
Google the Republicans and I see scare tactics, reactionary incendiary comments about the Democrats. FOX News? All about Eric Massa. Research on terrorism, and I see Liz Cheney's McCarthyism ad and its backlash.
What contract does the GOP plan to present to the American people in November 2010?
What is the GOP plan for the way forward on health care, energy, jobs, environment, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, infrastructure preservation, and the welfare of the states?
In the short term, the Republicans will see gains, however, without a solid plan to move America forward, I do not see how the GOP expects to win and lead.
It is any wonder, that the silent majority of main stream Republicans like me, are shredding our fund raising letters, and have no plans to vote or will like vote for independent candidates.
When I saw Michael Steele continuously referred to Tim Kain, DNC Chairman, as "Baby" during a Larry King interview......well.....
Good comment Gone_Rogue. I wish you the best in your struggle with your own party.
Frankly, I wish the Republican Party WAS more aligned with your interests.
As a proud Liberal Democrat it actually pains me that there is so little of substance coming from the Right. I would much prefer a rich, substantive debate followed by bipartisan compromise to the maniacal insanity of the Right Wing's rejection of any form of intellectual debate much less intellectual honesty.
Please keep speaking up for moderate, "mainstream" Republicans. I know several myself and don't find them to be disagreeable people at all, unlike their political brethren in elected office and on the blogs.
I hope you are able to win back control of your party from the extremists. America will be vastly better for it.
I strongly agree with Ethan. I'm a liberal, too, and I would also love to see real debates about real issues, followed by real (if compromised) solutions. Unfortunately, we have a bunch of GOP babies sitting in the sandbox with their arms folded tight, holding their breath until...not sure what the aim is, except they think they'll get power by blocking everything, and then they'll have...power (to protect health insurers, I suppose). I hear zero ideas coming from this bunch of extremists. One example: they call healthcare a "government takeover," although AS THEY KNOW, most of the changes will involve private insurers. They don't want banking reform despite our recent-near Depression. They don't want real immigration reform, just a big line of busses to drive all the illegal residents back over the border...a totally sham option. And on and on.
For decades we had Democrats and Republicans debating issues, offering their ideas, and coming up with solutions. Good government, in other words. Now we have obstructionists (and sadly, too often weak-willed Dems withering before these tactics). It's incredibly irresponsible for the GOP to sit on their hands and contribute virtually nothing to the conversation. They lost and can't get over it. Power is the chief issue for them--a tragic interest when you consider the mess we're in. I hope people begin to recognize this virus soon and start putting moderates back into these seats, and kick the sandbox-sitters out.
Thats the quality you get when you hire someone to interpellate the brilliant, well-spoken first black president just because he is black also. When will republicans learn that skin color amounts to NOTHING?
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Hey, quality article. As we all know, the healthcare plan is now signed. A lot of questions still remain, but there's one thing that's certain is that it's going to cost this country a lot of money. As a small business owner, I'm worried about the raise in taxes. We all want to hire more employees, but this plan makes that extra difficult for us little guys. Here's the problem: If it's hard for us to hire people, how does this economy recover? Anyhow... cool blog... I'm subscribed to your feed now so I'll check in more often!
I heard something about this yesterday on a local news program.
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really too soon to tell
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