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Palin’s interesting but…

August 29th, 2008
By T-STEEL, Site Administrator

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The pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin by John McCain to be his running mate neither wowed nor depressed me. From what I’ve read about Gov. Palin and some of the videos I’ve seen she’s intelligent, speaks convincingly, and is a pure conservative. As expected, some on the Right say this will pull disenchanted Clinton supporters (I really don’t think so) and the Left is in full vetting mode. But I don’t feel this is a bold choice. It makes sense (Clinton supporters and conservative credentials) but not bold. A bold pick by McCain would have been the gentleman below:

225px_Michael_Steele_presenting_award_to_USNS_Comfort_crew.jpg

The selection of Michael Steele (Chairman of GOPAC and a former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland) would have caused the Obama Campaign to freeze ice cold. Of course people would say McCain is pandering to blacks (like some on the Left are saying today about McCain pandering to women with the Palin choice). But Michael Steele is more than that. Michael Steele sells the Republican Party the way Barack Obama delivers a speech: DAMN GOOD!

I watched Michael Steele at one of Tavis Smiley’s Black Town Hall meetings this year. Steele was in front of a black, solidly Democratic Party, Pro-Obama audience. When he opened his mouth, he received no boos. Instead the audience listened intently as he wrapped conservative ideas in a way that didn’t condescend or berate. I was ultra impressed. He would have been the perfect weapon against Barack Obama in this election. A black, intelligent, and proud conservative with a down-to-earth persona. McCain would have transformed the Republican Party in one fell swoop and made history even more.

As much as I respect what Hillary Clinton did this primary season (I have two young daughters and I pointed out Clinton’s historic run many times), this election season is framed in the history of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream. And Barack Obama seized it well and true. Obama totally re-framed and re-aligned the black civil rights movement by just getting there with a myriad of American votes. And I thank him immensely for that. Michael Steele could have stepped in, made history, substantial (in my opinion) number of blacks to the Republican Party, while putting an even bigger exclamation mark on how far America has come. This could have galvanized those lukewarm or hostile to the Republican Party to give McCain a good hard look.

Sarah Palin’s a good choice. She may be a game changer. But Michael Steele would have been an election changer in 2008.



This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 4:37 pm and is filed under Republican Party, Newsweek Blogitics, Sarah Palin, Michael Steele, Democratic Party, John McCain, 2008 Elections, Democrats, Republicans, Barack Obama, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 15 Comments

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    Hmmm...

    Well, Steele could've made a good choice except for one problem: he would stand in the shadow of The Anointed One....lol...

    No, the black votes will be behind Obama no matter what. McCain knew this. They want PRESIDENT, not vice president...it's all about "making history" dontcha know..

    Picking a woman was a vastly better idea from a strategic standpoint. The "up for grabs" voters aren't blacks, they're women....millions and millions of them disenfranchised by their favorite party.. And McCain swooped in to "hit that"..lol...

    Yes, that's a simplistic and bucolic way of looking at it. It's like Obama jilted women and left them on the curb for another preference...*giggle*...and then McCain pulled right up in his muscle car with a dozen roses and his best smile and said, "hey baby, want a ride?"

    lol....

    Not that getting in that car would be the most advisable thing to do. But you know the old saying "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

    McCain just took that one to the bank..
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    McCain's choice was a splendid surprise. Miracles _do_ happen sometimes, I guess. Now the GOP has life and, "We interrupt our media worship of and campaigning for Obama to have to report that ..." there is a possible real contest, after all. (The lefties are throwing tantrums already and beginning the sexism and worse. And you thought their treatment of Hillary Clinton was bad!)
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    Black voters have already shown they'll elect a liberal white candidate over a conservative black one. That's how Steele lost the US Senate race to Ben Cardin. The chance that they'd switch to McCain because of Steele is pretty close to zero.
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    DLS- At least you finally admit Hillary Clinton was treated badly! Bill wasn't just whining about it.
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    I agree with T-Steel. His pick would have frozen the Obama team in their tracks. As I pointed out in my post above this one, Palin has problems, and I'm guessing they will only grow.
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    Thats like saying black folks only want a black in the WH ---they don't care about his politics.
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    I think that MaCain's pick of Palin is a good idea but with Steele, there will be two problems. He is a good guy i guess, don't know much about him but here aare my two cent. his first problem is:

    the white southerners - i think that in a era where blacks and whites as not able to married (even though the supreme courts overrule it in the 60's) and tolerated in the south would had been difficult.

    whites southerner used to be democrats but started voting republican ever since Nixon southern stragedy, therefore the Solid South and southern republican is a must for MaCain presidency. So if Steele was the VP, i would find it hard that MaCain will win the south in that whites southerner would not vote for him nor will the white southerners vote for Obama because he is black either.

    the Northeast will go for Obama and so will the pacific west, but the mid west is a mix, and the south is ever so republican. said, Obama wins the northeast and pacific west, and MaCain won the mid west, what about the south?

    secondly, blacks had already make their statement, they are strongly for Obama and Steele lost in the senate or was it govornor race to a white man. so i don't see many blacks voting for MaCain with Steele as VP. blacks just don't vote color, they also vote policy too.

    although, good choice with Palin because that means that white southerners can still vote for their own kind since i don't see them voting for a black man be him President or VP.
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    K: I rose to Clinton's defense earlier this year when the worst of the _Obama_ people were treating her worse than the GOP ever did.

    Obama's campaign PR guy was an idiot at responding to McCain's VP choice. He dismissed her as a mere tiny-town mayor "with no foreign policy experience" -- she, the #2 choice, with more executive experience than Obama (who has _zero_ such experience) and Obama is the #1 (Presidential) candidate for the Dems, and also has no foreign policy experience! The Obama campaign must have been floored by McCain's stealing the show today from Obama (who probably expected the press to be gushing about him all the way into the start of next week and the GOP convention that they'd dismiss ahead of time and during the convention as well).

    It should be added that yes, Obama once again rescued his campaign. When he was asked about the choice, he said that it represents another example of progress in this nation and that it does attack the "glass ceiling." Great for Obama himself! And when asked about his campaign VP statement that was so harsh (unlike Obama's own gracious response), Obama said that his campaign sometimes is "on a hair trigger, when it shouldn't be." Again Obama has rescued his campaign.

    I hope the GOP (not only McCain) exploits this VP choice and makes it the true contest and "sporting" contest it should be now.
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    There's plenty of opportunity for other good people like Steele in McCain's cabinet and in other top positions in the executive branch.

    Side note: I heard one caller on one radio show today say McCain should have chosen Condolezza Rice, and I say this would have been a "McSame" appearing mistake. Steele is obviously not baggage like this. Nor, I believe, is Colin Powell. Bring him back in as SECDEF or in some other important role, I say.
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