RNC Chair Michael Steele apologized to Rush Limbaugh after the latter went on air yesterday to firmly put in his foot in Steele’s butt. Make no mistake about it: Limbaugh ended this brief but colorful mini-feud yesterday by sitting behind a microphone. Rush was clear, concise and virtually destroyed any credibility that Steele has as the leader of the Republican Party. In particular, the excerpt below is priceless:
“Michael Steele, you are head of the RNC. You are not head of the Republican Party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the RNC and right now they want nothing to do with it, and when you call them asking them for money, they hang up on you. I hope that changes. I hope the RNC will get its act together. I hope the RNC chairman will realize he’s not a talking head pundit, that he is supposed to be working on the grassroots and rebuilding it, and maybe doing something about our open primary system and fixing it so that Democrats do not nominate our candidates. It’s time, Mr. Steele, for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work that you were elected to do instead of trying to be some talking head media star, which you’re having a tough time pulling off.”
My two cents: Michael, you should let Rush be Rush. Your job is to revive the Republican Party apparatus so that our party can win elections. It is in your best interest to allow Rush to go after Obama and say the things you are either too afraid of saying or that may be too politically incorrect for the official Republican Party to communicate to the American people. Case in point: do you really think that Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh are best pals? Newt and Rush understood the necessity of the other man’s talent and they were able to move the party from political obscurity in 1993 to majority in both House of Congress in 1995.
Rush barely had to ruffle his papers three times to dismantle Steele yesterday. If Steele uses his wits, instead of the playground mentality (the Republican Party is mine) he displayed on D.L. Hughley’s program, Rush can be a valuable ally to the RNC in the 2010 midterm elections.
Faculty, Department of Political Science, Towson University. Graduate from Liberty University Seminary.