Iowa's RNC reps are not happy today

rubbish (4.00 / 1)

he seemed to run away from the Republican label during that campaign.

The man at the microphone is Billy Murphy, a successful attorney and activist from Baltimore who normally supports Democrats. What do you see? Thousands and thousands of dollars going back to '92 in support of the Democratic party and Democratic politicians -- with one exception, Michael Steele.

The man standing behind him is Michael Mfume, son of Cardin's primary challenger, who was treated rather poorly by the state party. Micheal went on the record that he was fed up with Democrats, and as a result and would be supporting Steele.

If you click thru the mydd source link, you get to another "progressive" blog, that cites the original source, the Baltimore Sun:

The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland GOP Senate candidate Michael Steele has come out with new election signs that say "Steele Democrat." His camp says that the intent of the sign is to represent Democrats who will vote for Steele, something akin to saying a "Reagan Democrat."

Exactly. Same blogger continues with:

That's sad, but shows how effective this misinformation campaign is in a state that has a very large African American population. Most people don't follow politics day to day, and this kind of garbage preys on that lack of information.

Black voters are easily confused? There was no confusion on Steele's party identification. He went on record with "Bush is my homeboy" in a state where black approval of Bush hovered around 8%.

This is a good example of what I was talking about in my response to Bill Spencer the other day -- due to the caucus and the necessary involvement of IA bloggers, you don't see quite the amount of misleading rubbish that you do when it comes to other states on the 'big' blogs. Believe it or not, Marylanders were not confused or led astray on party id issues. You will always find some small fraction that are not aware -- in any election. Your first instincts are correct:

I don't see how other GOP candidates could pull that off.

He didn't. He ran one year after Katrina. He was quite frank about the fact that the Republican label was an albatross (I believe he referred to it as a 'scarlet letter') and said that Bush campaigning for him would not be a plus, but regardless, as a loyalist for the GOP, he would continue to support the President.

Very little upside to running as a Democrat that year, LOL. The label was only a little less toxic than Republican, sort of 'racist party' vs 'a little less racist' party. The entire point of the Steele campaign in the black community was, look, Democrats don't support black candidates statewide, so give me a chance -- even if I'm with the Republicans, I identify.

Black radio was running commercials constantly, reminding voters about Dixie Democrats opposing civil rights, etc. Cathy Hughes of Radio One was on the airwaves asking voters to give this man a chance, even if he was a Republican.

The outcome of the black vote was a referendum on Steele's viability within the Republican party as a champion of issues important to the black community. Prior to the election, the DNC did extensive polling in the state (Cornell Belcher, who would later work for the Obama campaign) and found that the black vote was split -- 1/2 rejected Steele whereas the other 1/2 was receptive. The final outcome,

50% - no, Republicans are hostile to communities of color and Steele is a sellout for even trying.

25% - yes, the Democrats take us for granted & let's support a black candidate for statewide election, for once. Who cares if he's a Republican?

25% - no, with regret - I like Steele and (most) of his policies, but I don't believe he can change the Republican party "from within."

I have a lot of friends in that last category. Right up to the election, they weren't sure -- I told them to do what was best for them and just not tell me if they voted Steele.

This is where Lehman and Scheffler kick in and do untold damage to their party's prospects. Look, there was no question about whether Steele was running as pro-life or not. This is a candidate who, in a state with the third highest Jewish population per capita (after NY/NJ), and in a state where a Freedom of Choice Act is encoded in law w/ overwhelming popular approval as well as support from moderate Republicans (like my former congresswoman, Connie Morella), and in a state where the NIH and Johns Hopkins are located, came forth with:

Steele (R), a Catholic who is pro-life, made the remarks Thursday after being asked about embryonic stem cell research at a meeting with the Baltimore Jewish Council. He compared the science involved in embryonic stem cell research to Nazi experiments on Jews during World War II.

''You of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool," Steele told the group, according to news reports. ''I know that as well in my community, out of our experience with slavery, and so I'm very cautious when people say this is the best new thing, this is going to save lives."

Any questions?

This was a candidate who really took it on the chin for his positions. So, the 25% perhaps open to Republican messaging hear of Republicans like Lehman and Scheffler who put forward dubious arguments against Steele and then conclude that no matter what his intentions are in the long run, his own party will not support him or his efforts, particularly in the heartland, the south, etc.

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by: ragbrai08 @ Sat Jan 31, 2009 at 08:17:12 AM CST

points taken (4.00 / 1)

but the Steele strategy can't really be reproduced nationwide. Without the context of the Cardin/Mfume primary, how is a Republican going to make the case Steele made?

Mr. desmoinesdem thinks this is mainly about reassuring white voters that the GOP is not intolerant and has little to do with reaching out to black voters.

We all agree that Lehman and Scheffler are damaging their party's prospects.

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Sat Jan 31, 2009 at 08:59:53 AM CST

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we agree (0.00 / 0)

the strategy of '06 is now in the dustbin of history.

Mr. dmd makes a good point that I'm sure is valid in the short-term, but I think the long-term is more of an open question -- I'll clarify in a response to your comment below.

We all agree that Lehman and Scheffler are damaging their party's prospects.

I believe it was on Krusty's blog that I read the suggestion/recommendation that Steele should visit IA. How about Lehman and Scheffler visiting a few states outside of their orbit?

It is true that Steele does not support a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v Wade, but that just means he's not interested in fighting political windmills -- which is what he would be doing in most of the northeast (I won't speak for the rest of the country, but I have a hunch based on recent results in South Dakota).

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by: ragbrai08 @ Sat Jan 31, 2009 at 13:30:48 PM CST

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forgot to mention that (0.00 / 0)

Obama beating Hillary for the Democratic nomination was one of the biggest upsets of all time.

Steele can't exactly make the case with African-American voters nationwide that the Democratic Party takes them for granted and will never give a black politician real power.

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Sat Jan 31, 2009 at 09:01:12 AM CST

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hmm (0.00 / 0)

Steele can't exactly make the case with African-American voters nationwide that the Democratic Party takes them for granted and will never give a black politician real power.

What makes you think that the Democratic Party is getting much credit for Obama's success?

Lowery

"The Democratic Party can take credit, but the Democrats didn't do it. God did it. God was in the plan. Nobody else could have gotten these white folks to vote for a Negro named Barack Obama."

A supporting view.

Aside from divine providence, there's other entities to credit -- Obama himself, self-organization within the community -- the DP is probably somewhat low on the list. Certainly 'better' than the RP at present, but not necessarily a until-death-do-us part relationship.

After all, rising to prominence within the RP would truly be a miracle, don't you think?

Seriously, if I were to do a quick poll, I'd guess that a significant fraction of black voters would consider two-party competition for their vote as something to be encouraged.

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by: ragbrai08 @ Sat Jan 31, 2009 at 16:00:26 PM CST

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even so (0.00 / 0)

I think the Republican Party is too dominated by southern whites to make much headway with AA voters, especially when the (black) president happens to be a Democrat.

Now if Obama had been the favorite going into the 2008 primaries, and some white Democrat had beaten him in a stunning upset, that would have created real opportunities for GOP outreach in the AA community.

Do you know how many black Republican elected officials there are across the country? I believe that most state legislatures are like Iowa's; the only AA legislators are Democrats.

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Sat Jan 31, 2009 at 17:19:21 PM CST

[ Parent ]

there are (0.00 / 0)

that would have created real opportunities for GOP outreach in the AA community.

other ways to perform outreach. Consider Charlie Crist, who was called "Florida's first black governor" by a state rep due to his serious outreach efforts and especially his support/work for reinstating voting rights to ex-felons.

when the (black) president happens to be a Democrat.

I think it's precisely due to Obama's success that black politicians will seek opportunity elsewhere if held back by Dems. Is Obama signaling that Republicans are a bad option? No.

If you watch a few Steele campaign commercials, you'd see that the messaging is almost identical to Obama's, hope, change, both parties need fixing, will represent all Americans, reformer, etc, just as Obama is a compassionate conservative who eschews party labels to the greatest extent possible.

Ad 1
Ad 2 (note specific reference to crossing party lines)
Ad 3

Steele would have won IMO, if he didn't have Bush/Katrina around his neck. I was being a little glib above about divine providence, but with the way Dems have taken the black vote for granted in the past, it's not surprising that God gets some credit. When Obama was shipped around by the party in '06, it was to put out fires. Not only did he come to Maryland 2X, but he also went to VA because black voters were not enthusiastic about Webb, and so on. Don't forget Cazayoux in LA, where we lost a seat, and did you see big turnout for Martin in GA?  

I don't believe that Steele will direct his efforts to black communities but will try to moderate his party and make it competitive again from Maine to Virginia. As a result, more blacks will find a home in the GOP -- even a reliable 15%-20% voting bloc would be a major victory. It won't happen overnight, but certainly there are many who are open to making political support more competitive so that issues get addressed (see Crist, above). OTOH, if the 'Lehman/Scheffler' branch of the GOP keep it up, perhaps not, but I think they're starting to figure out what time it is.

Do you know how many black Republican elected officials there are across the country?

Not an exact count -- I would say perhaps a dozen reps/senators, mostly in states that are not Dem machine states. People go where there's opportunity.

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by: ragbrai08 @ Mon Feb 02, 2009 at 06:42:53 AM CST

[ Parent ]