RNC Chairman Michael Steele says “Get a life or shut up.” That’s what the RNC Chairman told his critics to do in an interview with ABC radio today. In the interview Steele said, “I’m telling them and I’m looking them in the eye and say I’ve had enough of it. If you don’t want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way.” This was in response to a Washington Times report where a former GOP Chairman criticized Steele for padding his own pockets instead of fundraising for the party.
Michael Steele has been sort of an enigma for the Republican party but mostly for conservatives. In 2006 it seemed that everyone on the conservative side loved him, mostly because he seemed like the one bright spot in a crushing tide of liberal democrats who took over the House and Senate. Steele lost his bid for Senate in Maryland. But we were rooting for him all the way.
When Steele first took over as Chairman a lot of us on the conservative side were quite optimistic about the prospects of this very articulate, bright, young and yes, black man taking a position of prominence in the Republican Party. But that hasn’t really been good enough for many on the conservative side. Steele has been seen as a little too moderate for true blue conservatives.
But let’s give credit where credit is due. Steele has been very vocal in his opposition to Obama policies where most of the GOP congressional leadership hasn’t; kudos to him. Now he’s catching it from the establishment because he seems to be leaning towards the huge grassroots movement taking place on the conservative side. That would be the tea partiers for all you liberals out there.
The wealthy donors of the RNC, who let’s face it, will probably contribute based simply on party affiliation instead of principles are now criticizing Steele for promoting his new book, and God forbid, making money in the process. So naturally Steele says, “Get a life or shut up.” I’m with him on that.
Allahpundit at Hot Air has a post in which he talks about an AP report which outlines the GOP establishment’s unhappiness with Steele, not just for his endeavor to make a buck from his book, but using his position to promote conservative activism. My question to you is Michael Steele good for the conservative movement overall, or does he somehow hinder the movement? Personally I like Steele, I think he is a great asset to the Republican Party, but even more so for those who oppose this current crop of socialists in charge.
Whether you like Steele or not, if you’re a conservative you absolutely can’t like the way the establishment Republicans like to screw up any type of momentum the conservative movement seems to garner. In that case I’m 100% with Michael Steele, “Get a life or shut up.” You can see Steele’s full interview on ABC radio below.
Photos: Photos: www.wenn.com
January 8th, 2010 at 3:42 am
Oh, yeah. Sure. Whatever…
Would you please GET REAL! All this blather about the stupid statements people make just obscures the fact that the party — including the Tea Party — has yet to articulate any problem-solving ideas, except “cut taxes.” Conservatives will remain in the wilderness until they develop a platform that makes sense.
January 8th, 2010 at 4:24 am
Mr. Steele need to be replace. We need a conservative to be the Chairman of the GOP.
January 8th, 2010 at 4:45 am
Frankly, I think it’s because he’s black. The most “conservative” elements of the Republican party also harbor a wide streak of racism. I doubt they’ve been happy with him since day one, and are unlikely to change.
January 8th, 2010 at 5:54 am
I don’t care what color he is, ya can’t fix stupid! He needs to go and get a conservative go-getter who will listen to THE PEOPLE and not tout his book and the party line.
Michael Steele – SHUT UP!
January 8th, 2010 at 7:48 am
FED UP #2
I AM COMPLETELY BEFUDDLED REGARDING MY PARTY, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE ANY BALLS TO SAY IT AS IT IS. CHAIRMAN STEELE NEEDS TO GO AND WE NEED A MORE PROMINENT FIGURE TO SPEAK OUT. WHY ARE THE REPUBS HOLDING BACK. OBAMA IS RUINING THIS COUNTRY AND HE IS GETTING A FREE PASS. PUT THE HEALTH CARE UP TO A VOTE IN NOVEMBER, PUT CAP AND TRADE UP, PUT GLOBAL WARMING UP, CONCENTRATE OF THE ECONOMY AND TERRORISM BEFORE HEALTH CARE, CAP AND TRADE AND GLOBAL WARMING. CHAIRMAN STEELE DOES NOT HAVE THE OOPH WE NEED. AT THIS POINT SARA PALIN IS THE BRIGHEST STAR IN THE SKY FOR US. SHE CAN RELATE TO THE COMMON PERSON, WHERE FAT CAT REPUBS HAVE BEEN IN OFFICE TOO LONG AND HAS HAD US LOSE ANY POWER. WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL, THE VOTERS MAY VOTE TO GET ALL INCUMBENTS OUT, INCLUDING MYSELF.
January 8th, 2010 at 7:49 am
Pfft. Steele is part of the problem. No spine, no principles. A wet-finger-in-the-air politician. Rush says he wants Obama’s socialist/fascist, radical policies to fail. The liberal media presses Steele on it, and Steele wilts and agrees with liberal media. Steele funds ultra-liberal Dede Scozzafava (who showed her appreciation by endorsing the Democrat candidate) and yet won’t back conservatives. The grassroots, tea partiers no the emperor wears no clothes, and there are a lot of naked emperors out there. Steele is one of them.
January 8th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Is Steele surprised by the nonsense coming his way? He took leadership of a party with no coherent vision, no real underlying philosophy, and no concrete suggestions for improving things. The entire GOP has devolved into a bunch of democrat-bashers more intent on winning news cycles and seeing Obama’s approval ratings decline than on actual, effective governance.
The GOP has a chance to drop its obsession with the culture war and political bickering, and to actually become a real party again. If things stay on this track though, that won’t be happening any time soon.
@John Sperry: Seriously dude? All caps?? Come on now, we can do better than that.
January 8th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Well I wish we had a more conservative chair than Steele. One that would take us into the right direction such as legalizing drugs,libertarian healthcare ideas,chuck baldwin immigration views,Fair Tax or Land Tax, balanced budget amendment,going back to the gold standard,no more federal reserve,energy independence,vouchers,minimum wage reform,term limits, allowing leaders to fire government leaders while in office,trade reform, and missile defense. All of these things are what the people want and it’s what we need. My vote for the new head of the GOP goes to Rick Perry and Gary Johnson for 2012. Also I encourage everyone to go on our america and do some research on Gary Johnson.
January 9th, 2010 at 5:22 am
Talk about a guy who puts his finger in the air to test which way the political winds are blowing and you have Michael Steele.
When he took over the party chair he immediately moved to the center. His leadership, or lack thereof was the reason for the T.E.A. Party movement as conservatives felt they weren’t being represented by the GOP. Now he’s swinging back to the right.
I heard an interview the other day where he talked about the Tea Parties, grass roots, and Reagan conservatism. Yet I understand he didn’t mention Sarah Palin once in his book.
How could he not?
January 9th, 2010 at 5:26 am
“Frankly, I think it’s because he’s black. The most “conservative” elements of the Republican party also harbor a wide streak of racism.”
Very old and often repeated liberal lie. Repeating it again doesn’t make it so Newt.
Frankly, I think you’re a libtard troll!
January 9th, 2010 at 9:58 am
flyingmonkey:
I agree with you a little,but he’s not as conservative as I’d like him to be. Yet if he’s able to take back the house and senate than he should stay.
January 9th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Charles, he’s conservative right now because it’s expedient to be so. He’s not leading a conservative grass roots movement, it’s leading him.
Yes, I’m glad he figured it out, but a chameleon never stops changing to adapt to his current environment. Would Republicans recapturing control of the House and Senate look like 1994 or 2004?
January 9th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Monkey, I’m just talking about defending Steele over the attacks of the blue bloods who definitely don’t have the interests of the grassroots in mind.
They’re the crowd that screwed the party up to begin with. Steele has a lot of faults but at least he’s not fighting against the tide like a lot of the establishment Republicans are.
January 9th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Shannon, I feel that originally he was fighting against it until it overwhelmed him and he had no choice but to capitulate.
His actions prior to his recent miraculous transformation were the reason that I quit giving to the RNC and prefer to write checks to conservative candidates of my own choosing. From what I’ve read about lackluster RNC donations, I’m not the only one. Is he for real or is he just following the money?
Like I said, I’m glad he’s come around and seen the light but his transformation is relatively recent. NY-23 was not that long ago. $900,000.00 to Dee Dee Scazafava? Hardly the actions of a grass roots conservative.
I’ll keep an open mind.
January 9th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
“the fact that the party — including the Tea Party — has yet to articulate any problem-solving ideas, except “cut taxes.”
Simply not true and just another liberal attempt to dismiss a movement that has clearly stated what the solutions are to many of our problems. For starters if goverment would get the hell out the way that would present solutions to just about every problem this country is facing right now. Another approach the party is working on is to get out the word to younger voters just how dangerous the the precedents we see in action today are. All you need to do is to go to the partys website to see any number of initiatives they are trying to perform.
The reason they’re not getting as much attention as most would think they should is because the solutions are not a bunch of old tired falied policies dressed up under banners and platitudes that make it sound like something new such as what we saw in the Obama campaign. Most who voted for Obama were just to ignorant to see that all it was that was being promised was re-packaged socialism. Tea Partiers are simply demanding a return to the tried and true conservative policies that have worked in the past and the principles our contry was founded on.
As far as Steele goes, looks fickle because hes got a tough job trying to find a balance between a vote that could go three different ways in the next election. Independents, conservatives and republicans are all going to have to be brought together onto one vote somehow or the splits could give the dems an advantage.
January 9th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
flyingmonkey:
Well Steele isn’t at my level of conservatism. I’m far more conservative than most Republicans. Yet if you want my real pick for the new head. It would either be Rick Perry or Gary Johnson.
January 10th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Hey Newt:
[A]s Hillary bungled Caroline, Bill’s handling of Ted was even worse. The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill then went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.
Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) apologized for privately referring to Barack Obama early in his presidential campaign as a “light-skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect,” as recounted in the forthcoming book…
You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking,” Biden said.
New York Senator Hillary Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi ran a gas station in St. Louis to a crowd of about 200 at a fund-raiser for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer in Missouri.
RobertByrd – “My old mom told me, ‘Robert, you can’t go to heaven if you hate anybody.’ We practice that. There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I’m going to use that word.
I think you have your parties mixed up.