RNC Tosses Steele for Evangelical Priebus

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright January 14, 2011
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                Rewarded for the GOP landslide in the Nov. 2 Midterm election, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele proved that no good deed goes unpunished.   Throwing Steele under the bus, the RNC voted unanimously for Wisconsin’s Republican Party chairman 38-year-old Reince Priebus.  A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater (1994) and University of Miami Law School (1998), Priebus brings youth to his new job at the RNC.  Too many gaffes, too much controversy and too many fights with conservative pundits, like Rush Limbaugh, Steel left the RNC $22 million in debt, ruffling the feathers of the GOP establishment.  Picked in Jan. 30, 2009 only 10 days after President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Steele was supposed to be the African American answer for the Republican Party.  Tired of losing black votes, the GOP hoped to show its inclusiveness.

            Steele promptly antagonized Limbaugh over who’s the real head of the Republicans Party.  He insisted that Rush was only a figurehead while he was the Party’s real boss.  Priebus, a former deputy of Steele’s, promised to get the Party back on track to win the White House in 2012.  “We have to get on track.  And together we can defeat Barack Obama in 2012,” said Priebus, saying all the right things after confirmed as the RNC;s  next chairman.  Priebus knows that deep divisions exist within the GOP, especially the moderate GOP Party establishment with the more militant conservative wing led by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, recently criticized for her combative rhetoric in the wake of the Jan, 8 Tucson massacre.  FBI Director Robert Muelller and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik fingered incendiary rhetoric for creating such a violent atmosphere.

            Winning 97 out of 168 votes to become chairman, Priebus hinted at the direction of the RNC.  “I want thank God and Jesus for this moment,” said Priebus after the ballot count.  “I am honored . . .I am humbled,” displaying his strong ties to Christian evangelicals.  Among other things, Steele was a secularist, who sought to expand minority involvement in the GOP.  “We can’t wait to rebuild this party” and “move on to conservative candidates . . .” said Priebus, putting moderates on notice that the GOP has just pivoted to the right.  In electing Priebus, the GOP establishment has turned back to what they think were winning ways with former President George W. Bush, whose strong ties to Christian evangelicals helped him win two terms in office.  Party elders have short memories of how Bush’s foreign and domestic policies alienated mainstream voters bolting to Obama in 2008.

             Electing Priebus practically guarantees that candidates like Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Christian evangelical, get preferential treatment.  Palin’s recent responses to left-wing media criticism of her gun-slinging rhetoric raise questions about her viability as a national candidate.  Those with was good memory know that when she was picked by GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz..) ticket his campaign went into rapid descent.  McCain’s brain-trust thought Palin would help capture the women’s vote, when, in fact, the polls showed the opposite.  Her possible emergence now as a leading “Tea Party” candidate suggests, as Priebus noted, stiff headwinds ahead.  “We have to get on track, and together we can beast Barack Obama in 2012.  Obama’s steady rise in the polls recently suggest that Priebus has more than an uphill battle.

            When Bush’s chief strategist Karl Rove solicited evangelicals, it was a brilliant strategy that paid off to the extent he won the election in Flordia and the Supreme Court in 2000.  Bush almost lost to Sen John Kerry (D-Mass.), only narrowly saved by the Electoral College in Ohio.  When voters went to the polls in 2004, they were still reeling from Sept. 11, and, more recently, from the Iraq War that started March 20, 2003.  Only a year-and-a-half old, voters were reluctant to change horses during new foreign war.  Bush’s evangelical constituency held firm and helped him barely get reelected.  Priebus needs to think twice before committing to the Tea Party and religious conservative to pull off an upset of a popular incumbent.  No matter how bad the economy, Barack’s approval numbers have showed remarkable consistency, now the kind of upward movement from a better economy.  

             Electing Priebus proves the RNC has been hijacked by Christian evangelicals, hell-bent on handing the GOP over to religious conservatives.  While it’s a strategy that worked with Bush in 2000 and 2004, it’s not likely to work this time around.  More diversity in the electorate diverts voters’ interests into jobs, health care, immigration reform and ultimately shoring up Medicare and Social Security.  Given the track record under Bush, it’s going to be a tough sell convincing voters to give the GOP another try at fixing the economy.  Obama’s recent successes, with unemployment going down and jobs going up, it’s going to be difficult to switch horses in midstream.  Priebus counts too heavily on right wing media whose picture of Obama isn’t matched by an improving economy, expected exit strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan and now by recent polls showing a bounce in his popularity.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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