Now we know which wing of the RNC had the muscle, because Steele is not the Religious Right candidate - at all. The battles are nothing like over. Steele is no social liberal, but he has put little focus into those issues and a speech emphasizing winning in the NE and the W is not indicative of a Bible Belt strategy. While Maryland is scarcely a bright blue state, its voting patterns have not mimiced the Rush/Conderate of the majority of House Repubs.
It took over 5 ballots for the RNC to sort this out and after that many ballots Steele pushed 60% against the SC State Chair. That 40% is not the fiscal wing and this is not going to make them happy and it is not going to play well down Party. I don't think the Theocrat wing saw this coming and it is their belief that they are the sould of the Party.
Steele is not cut from the Limbaughesque mold so it will be interesting to see the reaction from those quarters. I have some hopes that this election will only stoke the fires of dissent.
2 comments:
Steele's pick is of course partly due to identify politics; a reaction to Obama. But at the same time it may be real progress--it would be nice to see the Conservative party become a club based on ideas, not identity.
Steele isn't moderate in his rhetoric sometimes so we'll see where he tries to go. We are fortunate in Meredith Wood-Smith.
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