Too needy boyfriend trying to keep his gal? Nope. Just the kabuki theater that is the race to head the RNC.
In his bid to be chairman of the RNC, Michael Steele is practicing a time honored tradition... lying about his past to get what he wants.
From today's Baltimore Sun:
WASHINGTON - Last year, with some fanfare, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele joined two prominent Republican moderates in announcing the revival of a centrist political organization, the Republican Leadership Council.
Now, Steele's name has mysteriously disappeared from the RLC's Web site.
So what grave sin is Steele trying to hide?
RLC-PAC's vision is a Republican Party that is unified by the basic tenets of fiscal responsibility and personal freedom, but that allows for diverse opinions on social issues by its members.
Oh, dear god, what was this man thinking? Diverse opinions! On social issues!
That's no way to become party chair...
But Republicans are well practiced in revisionist history, so what could be the problem?
Colleen Parro, executive director of the anti-abortion Republican National Coalition for Life, recently called Steele's involvement with the RLC "deeply troubling."
She broke into laughter yesterday after clicking on the RLC's Web site and learning that the description of Steele's involvement was gone.
Oops. I guess it's OK for Republicans to lie to the country to get what they want, but don't try and pull that shit on other Republicans. They'll laugh at you. And not in the funny ha-ha way, either.
Steele seems to have a lot of revising of history ahead of him. If Steele keeps giving interviews like this with the Washington Times, he'll never get the job:
"The problem is that within the operations of the RNC, they don't give a damn. It's all about outreach ... and outreach means let's throw a cocktail party, find some black folks and Hispanics and women, wrap our arms around them - 'See, look at us,' " he said.
"And then we go back to same old, same old. There's nothing that is driven down to the state party level, where state chairmen across the country, to the extent they don't appreciate it, are helped to appreciate the importance of African-Americans and women and others coming and being a part of this party, and to the extent that they do appreciate it, are given support and backup to generate their own programs to create this relationship."
What? More diversity? Grow the party? What sort of way is that to make the GOP competitive again?
Of course, Steele has been embraced by Teh Gays of the GOP, so he really hasn't a shot at this job.
A separate e-mail being sent to RNC members notes that the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that advocates for same-sex marriage and other homosexual issues, has embraced Mr. Steele's candidacy.
"The leader of the RNC will be the most important person in shaping the party's future," says Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon. "Steele believes in a big-tent GOP. He has worked closely with Log Cabin ally Christine Todd Whitman at the Republican Leadership Council."
Mr. Sammon notes that in a National Public Radio interview, Mr. Steele "specifically mentioned the importance of reaching out to Log Cabin and other mainstream GOP groups as the party looks to chart a future course."
Now, I have a hard time clearly analyzing what path the GOP will need to follow if it wants to be relevant again since I find most of their ideology intellectually bankrupt. That being said, lets look at the narrative. Michael Steele is African-American and a Republican. He ran for Lt. Governor in reliably blue Maryland and won. He espouses growing his party by understanding and addressing the needs of blacks, Hispanics, women and homosexuals.
That doesn't sound like the Republican party. But it does sound more like America. This past presidential election has shown the GOP to be predominately a Southern white party. This is a group that is demographically shrinking in proportion to the population at large. So if their ideology doesn't dump them in dust bin of history, then demographics surely will.
Whether they like it or not, the current GOP formula needs to change. The writing is on the wall. But in today's party, it isn't enough to be anti-choice anymore. Steele is staunchly anti-choice ideologically, but social conservatives want to knock down his candidacy because he associates with social moderates and progressives.
Now that sounds like the Republican party I know.
So sit back and enjoy as the GOP destroys its own while trying to forge a path forward.