Defending The American Dream Summit: Michael Steele
I was very impressed with Michael Steele. I became aware of the guy during his congressional race in 2006 and supported the push to install him as GOP chairman instead of Senator Mel Martinez mostly because almost anyone would have been a better pick than Martinez, but I never paid a whole lot of attention to him.
I wish I had been.
Steele came out of the chute talking about the GOP’s woes in 2006. His quote on the situation was this: “You can’t please everyone all of the time, but you can make everyone mad at you at the same time.” And he’s right about that. The left was ticked off at Republicans for the usual reasons (the war, being actual Republicans, etc.) but that’s just the way it goes. The right was ticked off at Republicans over spending and the growth of government.
And which do you think hurt Republicans the most?
Steele also had another great line. He alluded to the fact that his mother was the daughter of a poor sharecropper who raised herself into prosperity through hard work and prudent investments. He then asked why, if his mother was capable of understand what it took to be prosperous, why the “numb nuts” on capital hill don’t get it too.
Which is an excellent question.
Another good question is why so many people both in and out of the media have anointed Barack Obama as the “rising black political star” even back when he was just running for the Senate, but have totally ignored Michael Steele who is every bit as handsome, intelligent and competent as Obama is. And more experienced in leadership roles to boot.
The answer, of course, is that Obama belongs to the right political party.
