Comments on: Maybe the “R” really does stand for Racist.

By: anonone

anonone — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:22:50 +0000

Those are FACTS, Cassandra_m. You know our repub friends like Dave HATE FACTS. Particularly, cold and hard ones.

They’d much rather just make stuff up.

And this cracked me up: “Even Mike DeWine lost his reelection bid.”

Like it was even close:
Sherrod Brown : 55.88%
Mike DeWine: 44.08%

By: cassandra_m

cassandra_m — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:13:35 +0000

Cardin — 54%; Steele –44%
Strickland — 60.5%; Blackwell — 35.6%
Rendell — 60%; Swann — 40%

No close races among them. Which won’t stop you from trying to revise the history. Each of these R candidates was beaten quite decisively. And Steele’s plan is largely about doubling down on what has already failed, which is not a strategy for broadening the tent.

By: David

David — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:52:43 +0000

They were well supported by their party. The problem in Ohio was that a combination of Governor Taff and President Bush was too much for anyone to overcome on a statewide basis. Even Mike DeWine lost his reelection bid.

Lt. Gov. Steele had a close race not a decisive blowout unless the term has no meaning. I don’t really expect you to believe or care about his plans. He is the enemy as far as you’re concern

By: cassandra_m

cassandra_m — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:39:16 +0000

I was wrong about the year — it was 2006 — but not wrong about the decisive defeats of these candidates who weren’t especially well supported by their own party. 2 of the 3 were office holders who found their party’s glass ceiling, I gather.

But enjoy your delusion about Steele having a plan to get voters back!

By: David

David — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:16:15 +0000

Wrong, remember that was 2006 which turned out to be a pretty rotten GOP year. I am sure they wish they could have run in 2004. Remember 2 of the 3 were office holders.

No.12 LG, I don’t support Lt. Gov. Steele because he is black anymore than I presume you supported President-elect Obama because of his African heritage. Therefore I don’t care if someone thinks it is a stunt. He will get the job done. It is not about getting blacks to vote for the GOP. Granted it would get the blacks who voted for Bush back. It is about getting the Hispanics back, and suburban and exurban white voters. The man has a plan for that. Yes, in the long run, we need to get a greater share of African-Americans, but with the advent of Obama it will be at least 8 years unless he really goofs up (which I hope he doesn’t).

By: cassandra_m

cassandra_m — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:15:36 +0000

Steele and Blackwell are failed candidates of a failed GOP strategy — 2004 was supposed to be the year of the black republican with Swann, Steele and Blackwell running for major offices in their respective states. Each lost very decisively. And with them, came the end of the push to make the GOP tent bigger — at least for black people. Steele especially had to pretend he was a Democrat (at least hide the fact he was republican) in Maryland to lose so decisively. And, in point of fact, once both Steele and Erlich were booted out, Maryland went back to being fairly comfortably Democratic. Another Steele failure of “party-building”.

Even in a year when they showcased their black candidates, the GOP couldn’t find their way past their southern strategy roots to vote for these guys. Remember who uses racism to win elections.

By: liberalgeek

liberalgeek — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:41:51 +0000

To an extent, I agree that Steele would be a reasonably good candidate. From a “loser” perspective, remember that Howard Dean lost the Presidential nomination and won the chairmanship. Granted, Steele doesn’t have the name recognition of Howard Dean.

I fear that the African-American community (one of the groups that must be brought into the fold) will see this the way that Hillary voters saw the Palin selection, as a tone-deaf pander. Steele is better than Palin, but if it feels like a stunt, it will be all over for Gov. Steele.

By: David

David — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:58:11 +0000

You can’t call Lt. Gov Steele and Sec. Blackwell failed candidates. They were statewide elected officials and have an impressive record of success which I would compare to the writer of that comment. Yes, they did lose an election due to outside trends, who better to fix the problems the GOP has than someone who saw them first hand? They know how to win. They know what it is like to lose. They are in the arena.

It is the consultants who have never been in the arena that I am skeptical of. They are the second biggest problem the party has. They only know how to divide. They only value money not values and ethics. They scoff at presenting ideas. If the RNC puts one of those guys back in charge after there ilk lost us everything, we’ll deserve them.

By: David

David — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:51:49 +0000

We have a great candidate Joanne, Lt. Governor Steele. I love Sec. Blackwell, but he does not have the track record of party building that Steele has.

I think some people pushed Ken Blackwell to run because Steele was gaining so much traction. It is an old trick they play in the south; play us against each other. Fortunately, there is less racism in the GOP than the Democrat Party. You would never see 20% of white GOP primary voters going to vote with race being the primary issue. President elect Obama had a closer race in the Democrat primaries than the general election. Remember where racism still resides.

By: Joanne Christian

Joanne Christian — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:05:01 +0000

Saltsman went “poof” off my list a LLLOOONNNGGG time ago. My vote and values are private. Hawking Huckabee diminishes values to a proclaimed, self-righteous, intensive, unilateral lifestyle, instead of a private code of ethics, character, and integrity that needs no introduction–or indoctrination. But hey, nobody listens to me. Next……

By: Caffeinated Thoughts | Saltsman’s RNC Bid Goes Puff

Caffeinated Thoughts | Saltsman’s RNC Bid Goes Puff — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:58:06 +0000

[...] the public at large, and likely won’t matter with RNC committee members. All it does is reinforce a negative stereotype of the RNC. Our debate needs to be about substantive issues and policies, not crap like this. It [...]

By: Joanne Christian

Joanne Christian — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:03:25 +0000

UI-I am flummoxed. I wanted to take a breath, circle the wagons, and see just what we are all about, and where to from here. I know national GOP can’t really take the time off to search…..but I can……

By: anonone

anonone — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:39:34 +0000

By the way, as an Obama voter, I am disgusted by the selection of the homophobic bigot Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration.

As an American atheist, I am disgusted that we even have an “invocation” at what should be a secular government event.

By: anonone

anonone — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:19:08 +0000

Hey U.I.,

If they haven’t been embarrassed so far…

By: Unstable Isotope

Unstable Isotope — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:22:02 +0000

I wonder what our Delaware Republicans think of this? Are they upset? Embarrassed? Supportive? I would want to hear what a DE GOP member would say about Salstman or Dawson and the direction of the national GOP before I would ever think of supporting them.