The Republicans favorite symbol for what they imagine ordinary Americans to be, Joe the Plumber, has turned his back on the GOP. And while he has not taken the additional step of registering as a Democrat, the blow will surely come as a shock to Sarah Palin and the rest of the right’s lunatic fringe. From Time:
Big Government is never popular in theory, but the disaster aid, school lunches and prescription drugs that make up Big Government have become wildly popular in practice, especially now that so many people are hurting. Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he’s so outraged by GOP overspending, he’s quitting the party – and he’s the bull’s-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn’t support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid – which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits.
As the defections accelerate, the GOP will soon be left with only Carrie Prejean, Ted Nugent, and an ocean of dittoheads, to lead their trek back to relevancy. Of course, this could all be unfolding exactly as planned by Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele.
Michael Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, was interviewed by the Washington Times and is apparently challenging Jon Stewart for the title of funniest satirist.
“Steele plans an ‘off the hook’ public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party’s principles to ‘urban-suburban hip-hop settings.’
Repizzles in hizzle, my bruthas. Or should I say, my president? (see video below).
The first problem he’s going to encounter is locating any “principles” in the Republican Party. Then he’s going to have to deal with the fact that what passes for principles are overtly hostile to the young and minority voters he wants to target. Then he’s going to discover that the problems his Party have been experiencing are not the result of bad PR in the first place. Their problems stem from bad ideas, disastrous policies, and embarrassing candidates. Undaunted, Steele is charging forward with his plan to revitalize the GOP. He intends to craft messages that will appeal to a broad cross-section of voters – from soccer moms to hockey moms. Seriously, that’s what he said. Steele rejects suggestions that his new campaign will be merely “cutting edge”:
“I don’t do ‘cutting-edge.’ That’s what Democrats are doing. We’re going beyond cutting-edge.”
Sure…you wouldn’t want to emulate the Democrats who have enjoyed massive electoral victories, taking control of both houses of Congress and the White House over the past couple of years. Steele is going beyond cutting-edge, by which he means attacking other Republicans. In the interview he takes the time to note a rift between himself and Karl Rove, who never sent him a card congratulating him on winning the RNC post. (Is this a budding turf war ala Tupac and Biggie?) And when colleagues expressed concern that he might need some help with organizational and fund raising activities he told them to “Stuff it!” Then he proceeded to slam their previous efforts saying…
“Where we have fallen down in delivering a message is in having something to say […] We missed the mark in the past, which is why we are in the crapper now.”
I’d have to agree with him there. Not having something to say can impair one’s ability to deliver a message. But pretending your down with the homies in the hood isn’t going to help him put more Repubs in Da House – or Da Senate either. All I can say is that, with a teaser like this, I can’t wait to see what Steele produces. Although a commenter on the Washington Times web site had an interesting take:
Big Time Patriot: Hey, the GOP already IS hip-hop, more specifically, the GOP are Gangsta Rappers…
They hate judges, don’t think laws apply to them, like to take drugs (Yeah thats YOU, Rush) and disrespect women. All they need are some nice Rim’s and they are all the way there.
Michael Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee,