Man of Steele

As you may or may not already know, former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele was elected as the Republican National Committee's chairman. What does this mean for the Republican Party?

Having seen Steele on television before he started running for RNC Chairman, this made me personally very happy. Of course, no one comes close to William F. Buckley, but to me, Steele is a very articulate and prominent face of conservatism. Is dumping the past chairman, Mike Duncan, going to solve all of the Republican Party's problems? Definitely not. In the past election, the Republican Party simply got outmaneuvered by an organization that had a better ground game, and more resources. Until we fix our "ground game" and learn to use force-multipliers like the Internet effectively, we're probably going to be working at a disadvantage. If the message of smaller, more effective government that maximizes personal freedom without sacrificing personal security never gets out... how do we expect to "win hearts and minds"?

There was a great field of RNC Chairman candidates this year, including Ken Blackwell, from Ohio. I do find it very inspiring that the Party of Lincoln had two African-Americans to choose from... I've said for years that the generalized difference between Democrats and Republicans, is that where Democrats see what divides us, Republicans see what unites us. Blackwell and Steele did not run for the chairman position as African-Americans, but as Americans. That is an important distinction that should be kept in mind!

Add Ken Blackwell on Facebook, and become a Facebook Fan of Michael Steele. All the cool conservatives are doing it!

--Jesse Hathaway, OUCRs Blog Editor