Man of Steele (not)

It's time for Michael Steele to go. It's that simple if the GOP wants to remain a viable alternative to the Democrats. Steele has exhibited the rare political gift of looking as foolish apologizing for his gaffes as he has making them. Instead of providing leadership, he's been a distraction -- a welcome diversion during our economic apocalypse -- but ultimately not a leader. The real clincher for me comes in his latest interview in GQ.

A quick summary of some of the choice passages:

GQ: I was kinda expecting hip-hop to be playing in here today.

Steele: Aw, sh—. It’s on my, uh, computer there. I haven’t pulled it up yet, but I’ll get a little bit goin’ in a second or two.

...

GQ: How do you deal with the criticism?

Steele: I just pray on it.

GQ: You do?

Steele: Oh yeah. And I ask God, “Hey, let me show just a little bit of love, so I absolutely don’t go out and kick this person’s ass.”

...

GQ: Despite all the hits you’ve taken, you sound pretty excited to be
here.

Steele: I’ll tell you, it’s a real honor. It’s good. It’s good. It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s an opportunity that, growing up here in D.C., I never thought I’d get. And now here I am. I mean, who’da thunk it in 1963 that
in 2009 two black men would sit on top of the political world of this country? How friggin’ awesome is that? You cannot look at that and not go, “Wow.”

Yeah, Michael Steele sounds way more fun to hang out with than Rush Limbaugh, but is this really the tone the GOP wants to set right now? Clearly, Steele seems to think his language will resonate with young people, but it's more likely to remind them of Bush. After 8 years of incompetence and the malapropisms that came to symbolize Bush's follies, "friggin' awesome" should not grace the lips of any savvy Republican leader. This is doubly true when an economic crisis is threatening to push the nation into another depression. The Republicans need to re-establish themselves as a sober and serious party. Steele's not "off the hook." He's just off.

UPDATE: The revolt begins in the GOP.

Limbaugh, the Don

After witnessing Michael Steele kiss Rush's ring in apology after their spat, we shouldn't be talking about Limbaugh as the de facto leader of the GOP. The only word to describe him is The Don. Cross him and you'll find a horse head in your bed, ask Phil Gingrey.

The GOP's Epic Fail

It was hard to imagine the GOP hitting a lower point politically than the dead-ender days of W.'s presidency, but this moment may very well be it. The only thing dropping faster right now is the Dow. Jindal's disastrous performance in the response to the non-SOTU, infighting between Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh, and crude racial comments (here and here) that are sure to alienate the minorities the GOP needs to expand the party beyond a white, southern one. Sure, a lot of these dust-ups will be forgotten in a few days, but the overall impression is a party adrift at a time it can least afford it.



What a difference a few weeks makes. Remember, after the stimulus debate, congressional Republicans were hi-fiving themselves over their near unanimous opposition to the bill. They felt like they had scored political points (even if they couldn't stop the package) by casting doubt on some of the spending in the bill. Beltway pundits picked up the GOP's line and it appeared the Republicans were gaining momentum. To my mind, the turning came when the Washington Post and New York Times unveiled polls showing solid majorities approved of the stimulus package and Obama's approval ratings remained high. The GOP rebound was revealed as another unsustainable bubble.



The problems with the GOP seem to sprout from two separate, but intertwined issues: a lack of leadership and an ideological rigidity. The tussle over party leadership between Rush and Steele obviously plays into Dems hands. Jindal isn't ready for the national stage -- at least not yet. It's not clear where leadership will come from, but a sensible moderate seems like the best bet. The GOP also appears incapable of grasping the political moment has turned. The tired ideology of tax cuts uber allis and smaller government (see the post on Jindal below) is not where we are at -- find a way the government can play a constructive role and a way to reach out to the suffering middle class.



One last thing, if you're going to try to re-cast yourself as the party of fiscal discipline don't gobble up 40 percent of the earmarks in the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. It's not a good place to start.


UPDATE: The Politico assesses the failings of the current GOP and employs the same Dow metaphor I used:

"Four months after John McCain’s sweeping defeat, senior Republicans are coming to grips with the fact that the party is still – in stock market terms – looking for the bottom."

Sorry to extend the metaphor even further, but it seems the GOP's downward spiral could turn out to be self-reinforcing -- like the stock market. The GOP's huge loses in November's elections sheered off many of the party's moderates. The remaining party is more conservative and hence more likely to find direction/solace in hard right ideologues like Limbaugh and Palin. Of course, this could drive away moderates leaving an even smaller party. And so on.

Jindal's fumble

It occurred to me (and apparently others) that Bobby Jindal's delivery last night bore more than a passing resemblance to Kenneth from 30 Rock. It goes without saying that's not a good thing for a politician widely talked about as a potential presidential nominee for the GOP.

But the real trouble for Jindal -- and the GOP -- came in the substance of the speech. Jindal's anecdote about the New Orleans sheriff made it clear Republicans are still failing to grasp the shift that's occurred in the electorate:

During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I’d never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: "Well, I’m the sheriff and if you don’t like it you can come and arrest me!" I asked him: "Sheriff, what’s got you so mad?" He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go -- when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn’t go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, "Sheriff, that’s ridiculous." And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: "Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!" Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and start rescuing people.

There is a lesson in this experience: The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens. We are grateful for the support we have received from across the nation for the ongoing recovery efforts. This spirit got Louisiana through the hurricanes -- and this spirit will get our nation through the storms we face today.

The lesson that Jindal chose to highlight from his Katrina experience was that government was too interfering? The consensus opinion about Katrina is that the tragedy was exacerbated by too little government intervention, not too much. "Heckuva Job, Brownie" is one of the defining moments of Bush's tenure. Like Katrina, the economic disaster we are facing today can only be averted by a massive government response. Federal intervention is what stands between us and a total financial meltdown. In a recent Washington Post poll, the majority of Americans clearly expressed their desire for a large government role in righting the economy -- 64 percent approved of the historically large stimulus package. In the same poll, respondents said they approve of Obama's handling of the economy 61 percent compared to 26 percent for congressional Republicans.

Jindal's reiteration of the shopworn mantra that "government is the problem" seems not only tone deaf, but totally out-of-step with what's needed to bring us out of this crisis. I fear the GOP is going to relegate itself to the political minority for years to come unless it can figure out a credible response to the financial meltdown. Jindal's performance Tuesday night was more worthy of 30 Rock than a serious candidate for president.