During a 1976 presidential debate with Jimmy Carter, President Ford famously said the nations in the Eastern Block "...did not consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union..." In the hearts of the people his statement had a kernel of truth, but at the time Eastern Europe was still Communist and under the effective control of the Soviet Union. Ford's gaffe was heavily criticized, made the butt of many jokes and contributed to his defeat.
Republican National chairman Michael Steele recently had a Jerry Ford moment when an open mike recorded him saying that the war in Afghanistan was Obama's war of choice and history tells us it is not winnable. Of course, the war began under President Bush as retaliation for 9-11. Obama did claim during the 2008 campaign that Iraq was the wrong war and Afghanistan was the one we should fight. As with Ford, there may be an element of truth in Steele's comment but given his job, he is not the one to say it.
The job of any national party chair is the three "R"s: Raise money. Rally the troops. Recruit good candidates. Skill requirements include the ability to herd cats, walk a tight rope without falling off too many times and stay on message. A party chair, above all, must not give the opposition openings for attack nor the ammunition to press their assault.
Chairman Steele is an impressive guy. A sharp dresser, good speaker, he knows how to work a room but there has been several openings and deliveries of ammunition to the Democrats under his watch. A dust up with Rush Limbaugh, revelations about speaking fees and a book allegedly criticizing fellow Republicans, lavish spending including strip joints, and his latest off the cuff comments on Afghanistan are among many controversies that have kept the political focus on him rather than the failures of the Democrats.
Mr. Steele has broken too many eggs. Sadly, because there is much to like about him, this Humpty Dumpty must go. The upcoming mid-term elections are far too important to tolerate any distractions especially from party leadership.
clear fog blog
Why not defend the mans comments since they are the truth? Why must GOP leadership always run from the truth? That is what the american public wants most!
Posted by: Lysander on July 5, 2010 03:29 PMNo, the real people that Steele's comments hurt are the hawks in the Republican Party.
Lysander above @2 is right on.
The wars are bankrupting us. We should just let the Muslims kill each other. That is what they want to do.
You can't both be a fiscal conservative and want to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I choose capitalism and reductions in govt spending.
Is Iran next? Sheesh!
Posted by: Bruce Guthrie on July 5, 2010 04:02 PMAs for Afghanistan -- sure, there is some element of truth to what he said. It was far better to fight jihadis in Iraq than in Afghanistan, which is part of the reason (I believe) that we chose to fight them there. Obama made a strategic decision -- and made quite a bit deal about it, too -- that Iraq was a distraction and that we should focus on Afghanistan.
So in this limited way, Steele is correct. Obama has chosen to focus on Afghanistan, which is a tougher fight than Iraq was. We will all pay the price for his foolishness, but it's not Steele's place to say that. It was McCain's place to say it, and for reasons that only he understands, he did not.
Posted by: jvon on July 5, 2010 11:28 PMThey are not only true, but draw to light a big problem the people (including his base) have with Obama.
Posted by: Lysander on July 6, 2010 06:31 AMThat Reagan guy, he won't win. Reagan CAN'T WIN! You saw what they did to Barry Goldwater. Reagan would totally lose and we will not see the Republicans gain back the White House for generations
Is that what you want?
Posted by: Steve on July 11, 2010 11:20 PM