Thread: Steele Wins RNC Chairmanship

The Republican National Committee has picked Michael Steele, a black man from a traditionally Democratic state, to be the new face of the party as the GOP forges a revival following a second consecutive electoral drubbing.

Steele, the former Maryland lieutenant governor, won the chairmanship Friday after six rounds of voting in which five candidates were competing. He becomes the first black chairman of the Republican Party just days after President Obama became the nation's first black president.

Steele delivered a rousing speech after winning the hard-fought race, pledging to re-establish the Republican presence in the northeast and win elections in regions across the country.

"It's time for something completely different, and we're gonna bring it to them," he said. "Get ready baby. It's time to turn it on."

Steele said he would work to build the party to an unprecedented level and warned: "For those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked down."

Outgoing Chairman Mike Duncan dropped his bid for a second term after the third round of voting. South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson had emerged as Steele's top challenger, but Steele won with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.

Voting lasted for hours because no candidate was able to rack up the majority of votes necessary. A candidate needs 85 of 168 votes to win, which Steele eventually attained.

Ken Blackwell, Ohio's former secretary of state, and Saul Anuzis, Michigan GOP chairman, dropped their bids before the final round of voting.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01 ... rty-chief/

Related post on Steele: http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-144658.html

Go Steele Go

Good.

I've seen him on Fox talking. I like him.
I hope he's tough.

I've always liked Steele and his stance on illegal immigration. I hope he sticks to what he felt about amnesty a few years ago.

Originally Posted by butterbean

I've always liked Steele and his stance on illegal immigration. I hope he sticks to what he felt about amnesty a few years ago.

I just heard tonight that he's the most Liberal Republican in Congress ....

Michael Steele: doublespeak on immigration "reform" and amnesty

Michael Steele is the new chair of the Republican National Committee. On tonight's PBS NewsHour, David Brooks said he'll probably avoid "anti-immigrant" talk, and we know what that means: Brooks thinks Steele will support illegal activity. While Steele's exact positions remain to be seen, consider the June 14, 2007 article "Secure the border first" (link). "Securing the border" is generally a dodge, see the link. And, although he was opposed to 2007's comprehensive immigration reform bill, the "first" leaves an opening for some form of amnesty after the border is supposedly secured. Note that the five points listed at the Townhall link were almost all more or less included in the CIR bill and that Steele's position seems to be similar to that of John McCain.

That's driven home by this December 16, 2008 interview:

...The same [problem with a hole in a boat] is true with immigration. The core problem is that you've got a hole in the fence. Plug the hole. Use technology, use manpower, use all the strategies that you need to secure the national borders of this country. And then we can talk about the 12 million people who are here illegally, what we’re going to do. I think America will be much more receptive to that conversation knowing that no more are coming in and that the hole has been closed. And then we can deal effectively with the water in the boat.

Highly possible translation: after the borders are secure, Americans can be convinced to accept an amnesty. Asked about what he'd do about the 12 million (or so), he said:

Well, that’s something for the national debate. There are any number of ways that you have to deal with that. Do you want to create a pathway to citizenship? Are you talking amnesty? Ronald Reagan did amnesty. He did the first amnesty bill. A lot of people tend to forget that. In 1986, what was the problem? There was no effective strategy to deal with what? The hole in the fence. They kept coming. And 20 years later, what are we looking at? 12 million additional people, the hole has gotten bigger, and the problem hasn’t gone away. America’s response to amnesty was, ‘Not again, if you don’t fix the hole. If you don’t close down that border and make sure that no one else is getting over the fence, or under the fence, or through the fence.’ That’s what everyone sees as the problem. It’s not the individuals who are here, necessarily. It’s the ones who are still coming in, because our border is porous. Every other country protects its sovereignty, and no one cracks a peep. The United States rises up and says, ‘We too shall protect the sovereignty of this nation by protecting our borders,’ and everyone looks at us like we’re enemies of the state. Well, we’ll keep looking that way because we’re going to deal with this issue, and we’re going to effectively do what we need to do as Americans to make sure the integrity of this country, its internal integrity, is secure. And then we can talk about everything else. Everything else -- jobs, programs, employers -- all that stuff you can deal with much more effectively, because now you’re dealing with a smaller pool of folks because there are no more coming in.

Nothing in there would foreclose eventually giving an amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Notably, Steele isn't supporting attrition in order to reduce the numbers of illegal aliens in the U.S. over time. He simply wants to stop the future flow, as did Fred Thompson before getting a clue.

I guess I should have taken a look at his record before he was elected, but it's never too late to encourage him to support attrition.

http://24ahead.com/michael-steele-doubl ... nd-amnesty

Yes we need to plug all holes in the fence and those in all ports. What worries me most is the GOP's continually bowing to big business interests drooling over outsourcing and cheap imported labor.
GWB blew fiscal conservatism into blithereens and it seems that during his "lordship" Congressional Republicans were very willing to go along as they are the ones that control the purse-strings. With this economic stimulus package, it seems that Democrats are going back to their old lunacy by their pork projects.
The mortgage market and the financial markets were a house of cards that has collapsed. Unforunately, the economic stimulus money is dependent on foreign investors buying our debt, foreigner investors who are also broke because the American consumer can barely afford food these days not having a job for a year or two. And since the gov't is guaranteeing every piece of garbage banks put out, generations into the future are going to be straddled with repayment of debt created today, if they have jobs and are able to pay taxes.
This is not the same America I was born into and grew up in.

Wow. I guess I was thinking of someone else. He is terrible on illegal immigration.

I'm going to give him a chance at the position. I'm thinking the illegal immigration stance will sour me. Unless he learns from McCain and why many Republicans were weary of his left side. Basically we had no one to vote for at the end so I know I voted against Obama and NOT for McCain. If someone asked who I was voting for I said Palin! ...

Steele's great on Fox. He knows the party is divided.There was the boost when no Republicans voted for the Pork Package and I think they rallyed for him winning GOP head too. We'll soon know.

butterbean wrote:

Wow. I guess I was thinking of someone else. He is terrible on illegal immigration.

Actually he's not. Please check out the link vmonkey posted:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-144658.html