Check Out the Losers Seeking to Become the Next GOP Chairman
Posted By: Michael Sweeney Jan. 12, 2009
Out here on The Stonecipher Report, we're admitted political junkies...and, as Stonecipher mentioned the other day, this includes having to make do (as much as we can, anyway!) during these odd-numbered, off-election years. So, here's my latest "inside (political) baseball" contribution, an assessment of the top things wrong with the current internal leadership battle to become the next chairman of the Republican Party: ● Much like being a Republican in 1933 or a Democrat in 1861 (or, heck, even a Redcoat in 1789!), this ain't exactly a good time to be a GOPer in the US, much less their official leader. ● None of the six men competing to become RNC chair is anyone that you -- or that any non-total-GOP-wonks -- have likely ever heard of...and, while this does not necessarily mean all that much (you've also not likely ever heard of the actual current GOP chair, Mike Duncan -- who is also seeking re-election), you may well have heard of VA Gov. Tim Kaine, the incoming Dem chairman. And I KNOW you've heard of the outgoing DNC chair -- Howard Dean. (Yee-hah!) ● Believe it or not -- and I'm not setting up some sort of cheap racial joke here -- but two of the men seeking to become GOP chairman are black...and a third one is Chip Saltsman, the guy in charge of the TN GOP, who made a little recent news by distributing a holiday CD to other Repubs that happened to have a little parody song on it called "Barack the Magic Negro." Uh...I know there should be a punchline or something here...but, instead, it's just the telling, sad truth... ● Oh, and a fourth candidate for the GOP leadership position -- Katon Dawson, who ran the SC state Republican Party (and, BTW, where the heck do they get these names for southern Repubs?) -- decided to quit his membership in an all-white country club just before he joined the race to head the national party...and later said the issue of belonging to the discriminatory club was "so bogus" and was only being brought up by his opponents in an effort to try and distort his background. (Hey, you know how distorting and bogus THE TRUTH can sound when it filters out to other people!) ● Speaking of those two black guys seeking to become the head of the Republican Party -- Michael Steele, the former MD Lieutenant Governor, and J. Kenneth Blackwell, the former OH Secretary of State -- why does it sort of strike me as a national political equivalent of the IL GOP cynically putting up the nearly-as-crazy-as-Blago carpetbagger Alan Keyes (who -- gee whiz! -- just happens to be black) to run against Barack Obama for the US Senate in '04? I mean, I'm sure those two men believe in Conservative "values" nearly as much as the bunch of upper-class white dudes they are seeking to lead, but...again, why does the whole thing make me think that Steele and Blackwell are getting encouraged and backed by guys who just want people to conveniently see a black guy representing the Republican Party while Democratic President Obama sits in the Oval Office? ● But, all of this other stupidity aside, it seems to me that THIS fact best sums up what is currently wrong with the Republican Party (excepting, of course, the outgoing current Chimp-in-Chief) and its potential next leader: At a debate held last week, when asked who they thought was the best Republican President ever, all six men gave the same answer -- Ronald Reagan. OK, so forgetting about then-record-setting budget deficits AND a variety of scheming underlings cutting illegal deals with drug runners and guerillas AND the flat-out dumping of many mentally challenged or ill patients onto the streets without any protective back-up AND (well...I could go on, but...let's just jump ahead)...So, are we to then assume that these six professional grown men involved with politics have NEVER HEARD OF Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt? How about Dwight D. Eisenhower? Or maybe even Ulysses S. Grant? Now, I know the ol' Great Communicatin' Grandpa-in-Chief of the '80s has become the modern GOP ideal -- in terms of image and warm feelings and indescribable semi-instant nostalgia, but...c'mon, now -- not ONE of these guys could step out of the blind group-mind-speak and mention someone OTHER THAN "The Gipper"? Hel-lo? -- uh, maybe even especially YOU TWO over there -- ya ever heard of the Great Emancipator? Unbelievable... The bottom line? I gotta say that, with all this in mind, no matter who gets elected as the new head of the GOP, I ain't exactly worried about overall Dem chances in 2009, 2010, 2011, etc. Sure, we still have bumblers like Blagojevich on our side, but...we also seem to have the policies and positions that a majority (and a growing one, at that) of people in the US are embracing and voting for. ...But, hey -- the Republican Party needs a leader, even if it's for potentially years of wandering in the desert. And, as for the five losers out of these guys (oh, I just mean those that DON'T win the Chairman's race -- what did you think I meant?), maybe they could then seek to be in charge of the 0-16 Detroit Lions...or try writing a new stand-up act for Michael "Kramer" Richards...or maybe they're even still taking applications over at Lehman Brothers. I'd say that ANY of those sound just about perfect for these jamokes… For more coverage of politics (especially in Illinois), look for my regular posts here on The Stonecipher Report. (And, for a free subscription to my twice-weekly e-mail column on politics and pop-culture, "And, in the News…" send a note to: m_l_sweeney@hotmail.com)
