I also spoke with Kelsey Grammar, which was great because he's one of the least stuffy, uptight, conceited actors I've ever met. Michael Steele can energize a crowd, let me tell you.
z
Friday, January 22, 2010
I met Michael Steele tonight.......
I also spoke with Kelsey Grammar, which was great because he's one of the least stuffy, uptight, conceited actors I've ever met. Michael Steele can energize a crowd, let me tell you.
z
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
I really want to like Steele... generally speaking I do, but every once in a while he does stupid stuff like trying to "act Black" or saying the GOP can't win back Congress in 2010.
Kelsey Grammar seems like a nice sincere person.
Glad to hear you enjoyed!
thanks, Soloman....I feel as you do about Steele, believe me. But it was really a kick to actually meet him and hear him.
I like Kelsey Grammar, too. He wasn't afraid to come out an say he is conservative like a lot of other actors.
I tend to like Steele. He can frustrate me occasionally but I think he's a fairly good fit. I do think he has a presence and that will come in handy this year.
Z,
I would like Steele to get more with the views of the voters he allegedly represents. That big tent stuff only goes so far. A party, to be a party, must have a set of bedrock principles. He doesn't seem to.
The tent can only hold so many. As you let others in, you force others out.
The same Michael Steele that very openly criticized the grassroots "Tea Party" movement and badmouthed conservative talk radio hosts is trying to latch on to their coattails with his new book that seems quick-rush rewritten to change its original tone. He's good at jumping on bandwagons, after a slow refractory period of being dead wrong.
Michael Steele barely budges my usefulness meter.
The tent can only hold so many. As you let others in, you force others out.
-------------
Hopefully the Dems are about to learn that lesson. Been killing them for decades.
But, there's this: "At the press conference yesterday, Steele unveiled a new, more in-your-face model for GOP activism torn right from the tea party playbook. In addition to the radio ads, Steele announced a new grassroots organizing program on health care that will send Republican activists to six states with the moderate Democratic senators targeted by the Tea Partiers. The goal, Steele said, will be for the GOP to help outraged voters get their message across to the Democrats that he says dismisses the voices heard at the tea parties and the August health care town halls.
"We've seen arrogance displayed" by the Democrats, Steele said. "The Democratic party is consumed by their own monopoly of power."
Steele said the Democrats have dismissed the tea partiers and town hallers as "different" and "un-American." In short, they're not listening. Fortunately, Steele is there to remedy the situation. His grassroots plan is called the GOP's "National Listen To Me" program -- and it does pretty much what it says. "We're letting the voters say 'listen to me," he said."
I think we can hardly blame the head of the RNC for wanting so many Republicans to come back to the party. It's his job now to make that party more what THEY want. That's a tough job for any party.
Steele was my Lt Governor in MD for four years. He was NOT the engine for Republican governance in MD that Governor Robert Ehrlich WAS. Ehrlich was part of the '94 Congressional crew that Newt's "Contract with America" brought in. Ehrlich was the conservative Republican, NOT Steele.
That being said, there was, and still is, a HUGE opportunity to split the black community off from the DNC and reattach it to the GOP where it belongs, and Steele still might well serve a useful role in doing THAT. The DNC in MD has been "dissing" the local black community for AGES, and they're SICK of it. The DNC killed off Kweisi Mfume and several other local "non-liberal" black leaders in African-American Districts and replaced them with ultra-Left Alinskyites. Needless to say, most ultra-Left Democrats are NOT in the middle-class and religious black community's "good graces" here. Those are the people Steele should be courting, not a bunch of "Hollyweird" Republicans.
FJ.....there were PLENTY of Blacks there...sure, they're probably Republicans already, but he did address the Black situation very subtly but effectively and, as I sat there, I thought exactly what you're saying; that Steele needs to educate Black Americans ... if anybody can do it, he can, from what I saw at the dinner last night.
There were a few Hollywood types there....I don't believe this was the case of "courting" "Hollyweird Republicans" who happen to be really decent people, by the way.....We so often complain about Hollywood being so liberal that I believe it's nice to hear that not all Hollywood IS that way (trust me).
It's a faulty question. People are asking "Should Michael Steele be dumped as Chairman of the GOP" instead of "Why hasn't he been dumped yet?"
His "I'm the chairman" arrogance over the past year should have been met with "not anymore, chump."
But what do I know. I'm just a conservative he's trying to court.
we'll see, beamish...we'll see.
The head of the RNC is supposed to be pragmatic, and is responsible for raising money. To be fair to Steele, the tea party movement had to convince the powers that be, that it was for real, and has become a power base, which it has.
Political strategy demands that.
I think if the Republican Party will embrace the Reagan conservative dynamic of smaller government, fight government intrusion into our lives, stop spending like drunken sailors, support only legal immigration and of course a strong defense, they'll have a winner.
There's nothing wrong with a big tent if the conservative message is presented honestly, and draws people to see it's the answer to a economically healthy, free country.
It requires leadership, and a convincing messenger.
At least that should be the goal. Conservatives aren't loons. We want to be left alone to live our lives, keep more of our own money, and to support our national security interests.
Soloman, it's not so bad to publicly lower expectations. People will work harder if they don't become complacent. We have to stay revved up and can't afford to assume anything or take anything for granted.
Pris
Sounds like a very interesting time, Z! I recently joined Kelsey Grammar's new website venture- right now he is raising money for Haiti. Seems like a good guy.
Pris -
I agree with everything you said. Our tent can be big enough for anyone who wants a reasonable government that is fiscally responsible and doesn't act like they are a ruling class.
I also agree with you that lowering expectations can be good, but therein lies the quality of message / messenger.
Steele's been flawed from time to time, so for him to say "we can't" is not good in my book. To say "we'll see" or "I don't know, we're in for a fight" is a much better approach.
The word "can't" never won anyone anything, but demoralizes many on a daily basis.
"The word "can't" never won anyone anything, but demoralizes many on a daily basis."
Ok Soloman, it doesn't work that way with me, but this isn't about me. So let's just agree we don't say "yes we can". Right now, that's a loser if you get my drift.
Pris
I asked my friend who sat with me at the Steele event how the question/answer period went....I wish I'd stayed for it; Joe told me the crowd asked excellent questions and Joe, a solid smart conservative, said Steele "is NO lightweight" in his answers.
I'll be getting more from Joe soon and may blog again on it if Joe remembers enough of the substance.
I hate to be the one to make a correction, but the man's name is Kelsey Grammer. The next-to-the-last-letter is an "e" not an "a."
It may seem picky of me to point this out, but I'm sure it matters a great deal to Mr. Grammer, and since we like him quite a lot, I think we ought to spell his name correctly.
It's a very understandable error, but still an error, even so.
As for Michael Steele, I think he's a fine gentleman whose heart is in the right place, but from his performance as party chairman I don't think he is anywhere near dynamic enough to lead the Conservative Movement out of the wilderness and on to victory.
What we need is someone with the intellect of a Thomas Jefferson and the temperament of a Patrick Henry or General Patton.
~ FreeThinke
Post a Comment