The new Bennetton GOP (?) Redux

[ryberg]

OK, sorry, but this stuff is just too incredible to hold back on any longer, I'm afraid...

Steele offers Jindal 'slum love'

"...some slum love out to my buddy. Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing a friggin' awesome job in his state."

[click this quote for transcript and audio file]

And then, from this year's CPAC (you may remember that conservative conference for such things as Ann Coulter generating some laughs by calling John Edwards a "faggott") we have this effort from moderator, Michele Bachmann (you may remember her for such things as her McCarthyan call for members of Congress to be investigated for supposed anti-American views):

Michele Bachmann praised Steele's speech: "Michael Steele! You be da man! You be da man."

And no, this is not from The Onion.

Which of course all follows

Steele: GOP needs 'hip-hop' makeover

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings”...

Can't help but wonder how that's gonna work out for them, at this rate.

Steve

[MWC]

This was offered in terms of the Obama v Jindhal speeches the other night, but I think it applies just as much to the Obama v Steele dynamic.

Obama = Will Smith
Steele = Urkel

[ryberg]

Wow, that CPAC conference is something. Check out the comment at the end of this short segment from one Cliff Kincaid, and the rather wildly supportive reaction it gets from the audience:

But here's the kicker: the name of the organization that guy is the head of? Accuracy in Media.

,,,

,,,

,,,


I swear I am not making this up!

This bodes very ill indeed for all of us, wrt the prospect of pulling together and improving the situation in this country...

Steve

[tbay13]

Originally Posted by ryberg

OK, sorry, but this stuff is just too incredible to hold back on any longer, I'm afraid...



Steve

Maybe the GOP is searching for our version of Al Sharpton, Jeremiah "g.d. America" Wright, Jesse Jackson, etc...?!?!?

[ryberg]

I don't know, brother -- I'd hate to try and figure it out!

One comment I saw from a poster at the end of one of those articles -- or maybe at the end of another article on something similar, I'm not sure, now -- asked if Steele might be a mole Dems placed in the GOP. Sort of a Manchurian Party Chairman, you know.

Steve

[user 6507]

The odd (or not so odd) thing is that the political lanscape by 2012 most likely will be comprised of various splinter groups who don't have very much in common except for their opposition to the status quo at that time. This ought to be interesting....I hope I'm still here for it.....

[ryberg]

Well I do, too, amigo!

You goin' somewhere, or...?

Steve

[user 6507]

Originally Posted by ryberg

Well I do, too, amigo!

You goin' somewhere, or...?

Steve

I hope not....(no problems) but ya never know...live for today right?

[Jacko]

Conservatives Ponder Way Out of Wilderness

Excerpted....

It means declaring war, as Newt Gingrich, the movement’s guiding light, did here on Friday, against Mr. Obama’s “European socialism transplanted to Washington,” a phrase fast seeping into the conservative lexicon. (Mr. Gingrich also deplored “the Bush-Obama big spending program,” a sign that former President George W. Bush, a onetime hero to conservatives, was being thrown overboard.)

It means wincing, ever so slightly, at the name of the messenger Republicans put forth to respond Tuesday to Mr. Obama’s address to Congress. “Um, you know, I think Bobby’s had better days,” said Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, referring to Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. “But I thought the content of the message was great.”

...............................................

Yet even as they predicted that the budget would lead to a Republican revival in 2010, those gathered here were grappling with just how their movement would reinvent itself at a time when Americans are terrified of economic disaster and inclined to back the new president.

..................................

But the movement and the party are not one and the same. Many Republicans believe that the answer to the party’s woes is to become more moderate, to move to the center. The right wing, though, is pushing back against that notion.

[horizon200]

Originally Posted by Jacko

Conservatives Ponder Way Out of Wilderness

Excerpted....

It means declaring war, as Newt Gingrich, the movement’s guiding light, did here on Friday, against Mr. Obama’s “European socialism transplanted to Washington,” a phrase fast seeping into the conservative lexicon. (Mr. Gingrich also deplored “the Bush-Obama big spending program,” a sign that former President George W. Bush, a onetime hero to conservatives, was being thrown overboard.)

It means wincing, ever so slightly, at the name of the messenger Republicans put forth to respond Tuesday to Mr. Obama’s address to Congress. “Um, you know, I think Bobby’s had better days,” said Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, referring to Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. “But I thought the content of the message was great.”

...............................................

Yet even as they predicted that the budget would lead to a Republican revival in 2010, those gathered here were grappling with just how their movement would reinvent itself at a time when Americans are terrified of economic disaster and inclined to back the new president.

..................................

But the movement and the party are not one and the same. Many Republicans believe that the answer to the party’s woes is to become more moderate, to move to the center. The right wing, though, is pushing back against that notion.

Until they do move to be more centric, I fear the party is lost.

[roni]

Originally Posted by horizon200

Until they do move to be more centric, I fear the party is lost.

Do you see any centrist figures arising in the Party? If so, whom?

[horizon200]

Originally Posted by roni

Do you see any centrist figures arising in the Party? If so, whom?

Exactly my point Roni!

[Just Lucky]

Originally Posted by horizon200

Exactly my point Roni!

Maybe y'all could rename the party the Reactionary Libertarian Theocratic party?

[ryberg]

Originally Posted by Just Lucky

Maybe y'all could rename the party the Reactionary Libertarian Theocratic party?

I like it.

Tell ya what: they do that, and I'll talk to James about replacing the GOP in the title of this thread with RLT.

Not that James would necessarily go along with that, I'm just sayin'...

Steve

[ryberg]

Well, speaking of all that and CPAC, I just saw this:

Romney Wins CPAC Poll, Palin Finishes Fourth

In the first strong indication of where conservative hearts lie for the 2012 presidential race, Mitt Romney won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll on Saturday, earning the backing of 20 percent of the crowd. It was his former Massachusetts Governor's third straight win and followed a well-received speech to the CPAC crowd just one day earlier.

The results of the CPAC Straw Poll provide a small, albeit interesting window into the affections and leanings of the conservative movement. Following Romney, the next largest vote recipients included, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal with 14 percent of the vote, Rep. Ron Paul with 13 percent and Gov. Sarah Palin with 13 percent...

Ron Paul does as well as Sarah Palin...

Steve