From Palin to Steele
- By Roy Douglas Malonson
- Published 02/9/2009
- Political
-
Rating:
Roy Douglas Malonson
Roy D. Malonson is publisher of the African-American News&Issues.
View all articles by Roy Douglas Malonson
It seemed innocent enough and it was quite factual. The press release from the headquarters of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization stated, “The NAACP congratulates the Republican National Committee (RNC) on the historic election of Michael Steele as its new Chairman. Mr. Steele is an experienced, principled leader and a friend of the NAACP. He has been supportive, over the years, of civil rights issues and has worked on behalf of affirmative action initiatives that support closing the gap of economic disparities that exist nationwide. We look forward to working with Mr. Steele and the RNC to ensure that the promise of this country is made real for all Americans.”
President & CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous would go on to say, “As we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, let us hope that Steele’s election as chairman of the RNC signals the Grand Old Party is headed back to the future.”
There’s no denying that Steele’s election to the top of the RNC is historic. In this day and age, whenever a Black man is first in anything (some of us thought there were no more firsts, left) it’s a historical occasion. However, it is obvious that the GOP’s “Ya’ll got one, we got one, too!” mentality is in direct response to the Democrats’ first blood draw in the annals of American history.
Let’s forget for the moment that Black … is in. When it was rumored that then Senator Barack Obama was considering Senator Hilary Clinton as a running mate, the GOP or more specifically, Senator John McCain, since no one else will admit to it, was involved with covert talks with the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. When it became clear that Senator Obama would not pick Senator Clinton as a vice-presidential running mate, the GOP trekked Palin out in order to woo women voters. By trying to show their progressive side, selecting a woman was meant purely to diffuse the ever-growing tide of voters who wanted to cast a historical vote for change.
Palin, became the GOP’s attack dog who called Senator Obama everything but a child of God. McCain, a national hero who apparently has no problem attracting beautiful women, must have been looking at Palin’s other, ahem, assets. It was clear that in terms of someone being “one heart-beat away” from the presidency, she wasn’t the brightest bulb in the building.
Most political insiders say her fumbling of interviews, along with her winking and backwoods, folksy, Ellie Mae Clampett personality, betrayed her and her party, and led to one of the worst Super-Bowl type-beatings in recent history. Since the Joe the Plumber-led GOP is prone to copying the Democrats, perhaps they should have taken a page out of the donkey’s playbook.
When former Vice President Walter Mondale was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1984, he selected Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York as his running mate—the first woman nominated by a major party. Yet, President Ronald Reagan, the incumbent, was one state short of a total shutout (he won 49 of the 50 states, with Mondale’s only electoral votes coming from Minnesota, (his home state) and Washington DC. McCain fared better, but the bottom-line is he was badly beaten by now President Obama, a Black man, although there is a sinister move underfoot to color him White. Yet, when he “reached across the aisle” to the GOP counterparts, his hand got slapped as evidenced in the recent House vote on his stimulus plan which passed without even one Republican vote.
This was a clear message to President Obama that as far as they are concerned, he might be P.O.T.U.S., but he’s still “that one.” (If you have to ask, don’t worry about it.) So what’s a Republican to do? After all, the people are treating him like a king or even a messiah of sorts.
His inauguration was the largest in American history with estimates ranging between 1.5 and 2 million attendees, compared to about 400,000 for President George Bush’s 2005 event. Unless he blunders badly, he will be president for the next eight years. The Standard Operating Procedure of “the powers that be,” is that whenever a Black man or Hispanic man gets too high or too powerful, they put their own Black or Hispanics in place to take shots.
I know, if I were a member of the Republican elite, I would do just what they did. There really wasn’t a need to go down to Blacks R Us, or rentablackman.com. Think about it.
Steele was the prime candidate to take over the RNC in this year’s Black History month. Thought to be on McCain’s list of potential running mates, he rose quickly in the party, beginning in Prince George’s County as chair of the Prince George’s County Republican Central Committee from 1994 to 2000. Then, he was elected chairman of the Maryland Republican Party in December 2000, finally becoming the first African-American elected to statewide office there as lieutenant governor in January 2003.
The following year, he spoke at the Republican National Convention, and coincident of coincidence, his address was immediately compared with the one that Senator Barack Obama did at the Democratic convention that same year. President Bush and a contingent of “high-profile” Republicans, convinced him to run for a vacant Senate seat, however, unlike the pre-presidential Obama, he lost the election to Democrat Ben Cardin in November 2006, Steele stated, “It is with a great deal of humility and a sense of service that I accept and appreciate and thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as the next national chairman of our very proud, our very strong, and our very, very hard-working Republican National Committee.”
It quickly became apparent that the Elephants, who earlier tried and failed to swipe the Democrats’ “Change” slogan, are hoping to cash in on President Obama’s coattails. Steele continued, “To our friends, to those who support us, to those who believe in the ideals, those conservative principles that made us the strong and proud party that we are, to Americans who believe in the future of this country, to those who stand in difference with us, it is time for something completely different. And we’re going to bring it to them.”
Finally, he became a little more vocal and to some people, threatening with his convictions. “We’re going to bring, we’re going to bring this party to every corner, every boardroom, every neighborhood, every community, and we’re going to say to friend and foe alike, we want you to be a part of us, we want you to work with us, and for those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over. To my friends in the Northeast, get ready, baby, it is time to turn it on and work, and work to do what we always do well - and that is win. We are going to win again in the Northeast. We’re going to continue to win in the South. We are going to win with a new storm in the Midwest. And we’re going to get to the West, we’re going to lock it down, and we’re going to win there too.”
Not only does he believe that, but the GOP believe that they can get away with pulling stunts like this on the American people. When will they learn?
President & CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous would go on to say, “As we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, let us hope that Steele’s election as chairman of the RNC signals the Grand Old Party is headed back to the future.”
There’s no denying that Steele’s election to the top of the RNC is historic. In this day and age, whenever a Black man is first in anything (some of us thought there were no more firsts, left) it’s a historical occasion. However, it is obvious that the GOP’s “Ya’ll got one, we got one, too!” mentality is in direct response to the Democrats’ first blood draw in the annals of American history.
Let’s forget for the moment that Black … is in. When it was rumored that then Senator Barack Obama was considering Senator Hilary Clinton as a running mate, the GOP or more specifically, Senator John McCain, since no one else will admit to it, was involved with covert talks with the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. When it became clear that Senator Obama would not pick Senator Clinton as a vice-presidential running mate, the GOP trekked Palin out in order to woo women voters. By trying to show their progressive side, selecting a woman was meant purely to diffuse the ever-growing tide of voters who wanted to cast a historical vote for change.
Palin, became the GOP’s attack dog who called Senator Obama everything but a child of God. McCain, a national hero who apparently has no problem attracting beautiful women, must have been looking at Palin’s other, ahem, assets. It was clear that in terms of someone being “one heart-beat away” from the presidency, she wasn’t the brightest bulb in the building.
Most political insiders say her fumbling of interviews, along with her winking and backwoods, folksy, Ellie Mae Clampett personality, betrayed her and her party, and led to one of the worst Super-Bowl type-beatings in recent history. Since the Joe the Plumber-led GOP is prone to copying the Democrats, perhaps they should have taken a page out of the donkey’s playbook.
When former Vice President Walter Mondale was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1984, he selected Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York as his running mate—the first woman nominated by a major party. Yet, President Ronald Reagan, the incumbent, was one state short of a total shutout (he won 49 of the 50 states, with Mondale’s only electoral votes coming from Minnesota, (his home state) and Washington DC. McCain fared better, but the bottom-line is he was badly beaten by now President Obama, a Black man, although there is a sinister move underfoot to color him White. Yet, when he “reached across the aisle” to the GOP counterparts, his hand got slapped as evidenced in the recent House vote on his stimulus plan which passed without even one Republican vote.
This was a clear message to President Obama that as far as they are concerned, he might be P.O.T.U.S., but he’s still “that one.” (If you have to ask, don’t worry about it.) So what’s a Republican to do? After all, the people are treating him like a king or even a messiah of sorts.
His inauguration was the largest in American history with estimates ranging between 1.5 and 2 million attendees, compared to about 400,000 for President George Bush’s 2005 event. Unless he blunders badly, he will be president for the next eight years. The Standard Operating Procedure of “the powers that be,” is that whenever a Black man or Hispanic man gets too high or too powerful, they put their own Black or Hispanics in place to take shots.
I know, if I were a member of the Republican elite, I would do just what they did. There really wasn’t a need to go down to Blacks R Us, or rentablackman.com. Think about it.
Steele was the prime candidate to take over the RNC in this year’s Black History month. Thought to be on McCain’s list of potential running mates, he rose quickly in the party, beginning in Prince George’s County as chair of the Prince George’s County Republican Central Committee from 1994 to 2000. Then, he was elected chairman of the Maryland Republican Party in December 2000, finally becoming the first African-American elected to statewide office there as lieutenant governor in January 2003.
The following year, he spoke at the Republican National Convention, and coincident of coincidence, his address was immediately compared with the one that Senator Barack Obama did at the Democratic convention that same year. President Bush and a contingent of “high-profile” Republicans, convinced him to run for a vacant Senate seat, however, unlike the pre-presidential Obama, he lost the election to Democrat Ben Cardin in November 2006, Steele stated, “It is with a great deal of humility and a sense of service that I accept and appreciate and thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as the next national chairman of our very proud, our very strong, and our very, very hard-working Republican National Committee.”
It quickly became apparent that the Elephants, who earlier tried and failed to swipe the Democrats’ “Change” slogan, are hoping to cash in on President Obama’s coattails. Steele continued, “To our friends, to those who support us, to those who believe in the ideals, those conservative principles that made us the strong and proud party that we are, to Americans who believe in the future of this country, to those who stand in difference with us, it is time for something completely different. And we’re going to bring it to them.”
Finally, he became a little more vocal and to some people, threatening with his convictions. “We’re going to bring, we’re going to bring this party to every corner, every boardroom, every neighborhood, every community, and we’re going to say to friend and foe alike, we want you to be a part of us, we want you to work with us, and for those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over. To my friends in the Northeast, get ready, baby, it is time to turn it on and work, and work to do what we always do well - and that is win. We are going to win again in the Northeast. We’re going to continue to win in the South. We are going to win with a new storm in the Midwest. And we’re going to get to the West, we’re going to lock it down, and we’re going to win there too.”
Not only does he believe that, but the GOP believe that they can get away with pulling stunts like this on the American people. When will they learn?
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2 Responses to "From Palin to Steele"
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said this on 10 Feb 2009 9:44:46 AM MST
I thought Republicans appointed Colin Powell, his son, and Condi Rice. Are they not black. And hey don't forget. Obama is half white.
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Author/Admin)|
said this on 10 Feb 2009 6:35:17 PM MST
One of the smartest people I have ever seen.
Elect Palin - Rumsfeld 2012!! |