Don't Look Now....

.....but the local whack jobs are already doing their part to try to bring down Michael Steele.

Well, I suppose you can never expect the fringe left to actually want to debate on the merits of issues, now can you? Especially with the criminal class of leadership they seem to want to foist upon the state and the country these days...

Steele for a Reason, but let's keep everything under control

I have been very upfront with the fact that I am supporting Michael Steele for RNC Chairman. And not just because he's a Maryland guy, but because I think he brings the best credentials and experience to the ticket.

That's not to say that others would do a bad job, but all of the other candidates give me pause:

• Saul Anuzis is probably leading the way in trying to integrate technology into the campaign infrastructure, and that is something that we need. However, we are conservatives and results to matter, and Michigan was a trainwreck for Republicans in 2008.
• Ken Blackwell has reasonable conservative credentials, despite his Charterite past. But he too has a results problem, getting blown out of the watter in a competitive state in 2006. Not a great year for the GOP, but even Michael Steele performed better in a deeper blue state.
• Katon Dawson is a conservative and has done a good job, but it's a lot different working across a broad purple nation than it is being the Chairman in South Carolina.
• And I still believe that Chip Saltsman is a stalking horse for Mike Huckabee and his social conservative/big government liberal fusion wing of the party.

As I have said before, all of these guys would do well. Just that Steele is above and beyond the most qualified candidate in the race due to his experience and yes his results. But as I noted yesterday, this campaign in certain aspects is getting to look like the Presidential Primaries in that some people are tearing down candidates rather than build cases for their own. I had the chief blogger for Ken Blackwell's 2006 campaign make some comments on my blog yesterday that had more to do with bashing Steele than it did with defending Blackwell.

Regardless of who wins, we as Republicans and activists are going to need to work with our new Chairman. So I think everybody needs to take a step back, breathe, and try not to dish out any more rabbit punches...

I don't get it

One of the things that has been most puzzling to me in recent days has been a seeming conservative backlash against Michael Steele as he runs for RNC Chairman. I find it extremely curious that one of the most conservative candidates in the race for Chairman keeps getting beaten up as "not conservative enough."

Richard Falknor launches the latest salvo by trying to portraying the sins of Bob Ehrlich as the sins of Michael Steele:

Steele was a team-playing lieutenant governor in Maryland under Bob Ehrlich, a “centrist” Republican governor who raised taxes, grew spending, approved taxpayer-supported embryonic stem-cell research, and (gratuitously in our view) went out of his way to anger values voices and gun owners. A skilled advocate, Mr. Ehrlich’s chief policy goal was apparently the enactment of slots legislation. Mr. Steele’s special contributions were heading an education task-force that didn’t address parental choice, and trying to advance the Old Line State’s minority-business-enterprise program.

Of course the office of Lieutenant Governor in Maryland barely has enough power to go buy a cup of coffee, much less have meaningful influence in a Governor's Agenda. Michael Steele has been and has always been a conservative, much more so on issues of life, budget, and taxes than virtually anybody who has served in Maryland's Executive Branch in a long time.

Falknor also railed against Steele's support of Wayne Gilchrest in the 1st District Congressional primary, and also had this to say to conclude his remarks:

Mr. Steele’s supporters could make a case along these lines: that their candidate’s undoubted charm and personal attractiveness are paramount for an RNC job; and that asking about taxes, fighting America’s enemies, the culture of life, giving parents some control over schools, and controlling porous borders is simply out of place — whether in supporting Republicans at the polls or in selecting a gifted national voice to weave a new post-partisan, inclusive public narrative necessary for Republicans to start winning again.

Questioning Michael Steele's conservative bonafides is kinda like questioning Tiger Woods' golf game; it's a question that really need not be asked. But what Falknor fails to not that at this stage in time, a candidate's ability to speak to Republican issues and a candidate's ability to organize the Republican Party is of paramount importance for our next Chairman. We need a Chairman who understands the what it is like to have their boots on the ground while also understanding the most basic of conservative principles.

Beyond that, I do not see a candidate who can "out-conservative" for lack of a better term Steele. The candidates are equals at best or, in the case of Huckabee stalking horse Chip Saltsman, worse, on conservative credentials. This Chairmanship election needs to focus on three basic things:

1. Conservative Principles;
2. Organization;
3. Expansion of the Conservative Message.

And nobody can beat Michael Steele on those points. In fact, when you consider that he is taking on the issue of ethics as it relates to our party, he's already doing his part to lead the party in a conservative and respectable manner.

I just don't understand those who question Steele's conservative credentials. It makes you wonder if those questioning his credentials need to have their understanding of conservatism questioned...

Stumping for Steele

As you would expect, there was a ton of support for Michael Steele at the Convention on Friday night, and Ted Pibil did a fantastic job in memorializing that support on three videos that you can see here.

Check out the video below, and be sure to focus on the good-looking fella starting at 2:45.....