As if the GOP's prospects for 2010 were not bad enough, their implosion is continuing, and this time, it is on the battlefields of Missouri. The National Journal has all the details; however, it is behind a subscriber firewall. However, the Missouri Democratic Party helpfully provided a copy of the article, and it is full of Republican napalm in the Show-Me State.
It seems that Roy Blunt has started a whisper campaign about how women are not, ummm, qualified to serve as the head of a Republican ticket:
"We tried that with Palin, and it didn't work," one Washington GOP strategist said, referring to the appeal of an attractive female outsider. Several other GOP Beltway insiders used similar language when describing Steelman's prospects.
And Sarah Steelman, who is every bit of a Princess like Kathrine Harris was, shrieks in righteous outrage:
Steelman called the comment "ridiculous" and said it sends the wrong message to potential future female Republican candidates when she believes it's time to broaden the party. "I actually think Sarah Palin was a great asset to [GOP presidential nominee Sen.] John McCain," she said, hastening to add that the GOP ticket carried Missouri.
And Steelman, of course, is no stranger to this sort of venomous attacking, seeing that she ran a nasty campaign against her primary opponent for governor and tried to swiftboat her way into the general election against Jay Nixon.
And Steelman is whining that the Republicans are using a different standard for women that they do for men:
Some Republican strategists pointed out that Palin used gender but in a way that didn't resonate, as pocketbook issues superseded social ones in the 2008 race. Steelman, some say, is in a better position, as she has begun to develop a reputation as "Palin with an economics degree."
Such assessments rankle Steelman. "People don't scrutinize male Republicans who run for office like that," she said, suggesting a "different standard for women than for men."
You see, Sarah, you just found out the hard way that the Republican Party is all about sexism, bigotry, and male privilege. Arlen Specter just learned the hard way that there is no home in the Republicans for people like him. Jim Jeffords served as the canary in the coal mine several years ago. And I don't think that you would care to be a token women like Sarah Palin was in 2008. Just admit it -- there is no place in the Republican Party for someone like you.
But the Blunt whisper campaign continues:
A Republican in Blunt's camp countered that with Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill already in office, Missouri voters might be better served balancing that with a male.
Yes, the Show-Me State is burning...