Simple Man Politics

Welcome back to Simple Man Politics for yet another hump day post. The man of the hour today who may be bestowed his hump honor eventually but not today is the RNC (Republican National Committee) Chairman Michael Steele. I have been considering doing a piece on this man for some time but other topics have taken precedence till now.

Former Lt Governor of Maryland Michael Steele (R-MD) now chairs the RNC and has the almost impossible and unenviable task of reviving and rejuvenating the Republican Party. He must not only ensure greater success of the party’s wins in at least the next two election cycles, but he must get his party’s base expanded, energized, and actively into the fight to regain GOP dominance in D.C. as well.

To say the least Mr. Steele faces some opposition to these goals and not just from the Democratic Party. He faces critics and opposition from within his own party also. Since his appointment to the RNC Chairmanship he has been blasted by Rush Limbaugh, and had ideological differences with former VP Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich just to name a couple of his detractors.

In addition to these troubles he has had trouble with the RNC board who have attempted to place limitations or regulations on what he can and can’t do as Chairman including funding, which has caused him to say at one point that if they want a figurehead as the Chairman they picked the wrong man. As if all of this isn’t enough for the man to deal with he is now taking heat from within the RNC for hiring friends, which every Chairman before him has done.

Michael Steele also laid out his game plan Tuesday 05/19/09 for bringing back the GOP strong. He says that regardless of Barack Obamas immense popularity with the public that the Republican Party will attack the President and his policies head on. He says that even with a revamped Republican Party there will still be clear differences between Democrats and Republicans politically and ideologically.

He cites this stance as a comeback of the two party system and said that the GOP has turned the corner predicting a Republican resurgence and that the comeback has begun and it is not in Washington. He also stated that this comeback is underway with the rebirth of the American dream and the change came to the party in a teabag referring to the Tea Parties of last month. All of this however seems to fly in the face of the fact that less people now identify themselves as Republicans when compared to the 2000 through 2004 election cycles.

I personally hope that Michael Steele is successful in his endeavor to reconstitute the Republican Party, but until a consensus is reached within the leadership of the Grand Old Party and the figure out how to present a new streamlined fresh image of the party to the base and potential members this is all just rhetoric. Unfortunately this may also be how Steele gets humped and by no one and nothing else but his own party the GOP. I do wish him all the luck in the world and I hope he is careful about bending over to pick anything up right now.

That is all I have to write about for now, but I am sure I will come up with something very interesting for all of you to read tomorrow. I also hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and I will be back again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Hello to all the readers of SimpleManPolitics. As requested by Tim, your fearless blogger, I'll be posting from time to time here to give him a break as he starts his other blog. I'm honored to have the opportunity to contribute, and I look forward to hearing back from all the readers, whether you agree or disagree with me.

Today as I was doing my customary research, I came across an interesting article at Townhall.com by Congressman Thomas Price. Essentially Price felt he had an idea of what was wrong with the Republican Party, and went on to give a list of things he felt needed to be changed. However, his list was so vague that there was no substance to it at all. Typical political BS if you ask me.

What really got my attention though was the many comments left in reply to his writing - all from angry conservatives unhappy with the Republican Party. You see, the theme that many Republicans seen to be singing lately is the theme of becoming moderate, moving to the left, and making change. Well, the conservatives aren't happy about this.

Many conservatives are leaving the party and some find themselves only voting Republican because they feel the Republican choice is the lesser of two evils. You'll probably be shocked to find out that studies show 1 out of 5 "self proclaimed" conservatives actually voted for Obama. They hated John McCain that much that they'd vote for a leftist Democrat - Barack Obama. Now that's scary and a sad place for the Republican Party to be.

Simply take a look at the past 10 years in the Republican Party. It's no longer so conservative. The party continues to move towards the left. Too many Republican senators and representatives vote based on popularity and concerns of re-election instead of voting based on the principals that the Republican Party stands for. Those who are truly concerned about the people of America will not be as worried about re-election as they are doing what is right for the people.

The Republican Party didn't lose the last election because of the Democrats - they lost because of their own party. People no longer have a reason to vote Republican. Conservatives are no longer happy with the platforms that Republican leaders are running on. When you have "centrists" like John McCain running with a staunch conservative like Sarah Palin, it just doesn't work out. The people didn't trust John McCain because he wasn't a staunch conservative. This was the disaster that lost an election to the most liberal politician in Washington - Obama.

Listen up Republican leaders. It's time to actually walk the walk. You can claim to be Republicans, but look at the decisions you make. Right now there are republicans in Congress blindly following along with the crowd. Take a look at Orin Hatch, who decided to confirm Geithner in spite of the tax fraud say that he was "qualified" for the job.

Now, you may be wondering why I, a Republican, am writing negatively about the Republican Party. Well, that's because I call it like I see it folks. I'm not blind. I see the problems in the party. Who knows, if it doesn't change, I may be out there finding a new party myself. There are many conservatives out there looking for a new party that is "truly" conservative. There are actually some choices out there, such as the American First Party, which is beginning to grow.

Now I don't have all the answers here, but I can definitely see when a party is dying. Unless true conservatism is truly held up once again in the Republican Party, I believe it will die. Perhaps Michael Steele, the new Chairman of the party will make a difference. We can only wait and see. Until then though, Republican leaders better walk carefully. There's a mob of angry conservatives out there.