Fisking Michael Steele

He writes in Politico:

The Republican Party finds itself the minority party in America for the first time in more than 15 years. I’ll be the first to admit it has taken some adjustment. Republicans have engaged in some healthy soul-searching since Election Day, trying to come to grips with our minority status and debating the best way forward as we point out our differences with the Democrats and chart our return to the majority.

I don't know about healthy, but it sure hasn't been pretty. You need to stop defining yourself against your opposition, though, and start offering policies that actually appeal to people. This will require addressing what you've done wrong, and learning from mistakes.

This has been an important debate within the Republican Party, particularly because of the place in history America currently finds itself. Last year the Democrats told voters they would bring “change” to Washington, but their version of change has been to push America to the left farther and faster than I think anyone could have imagined.

It's been painful to watch, but surely we could have imagined it. I admit to hoping otherwise--during the campaign I naively gushed over a "return to Clintonomics". Instead we got LBJ 2.0. But one does not have to imagine pushing America farther to left this quickly--one need only look at historical examples. At the beginning of FDR's term, Congress was a rubber stamp. Bills were written in the White House and passed on the same day without even being read.

That is why I believe America needs the Republican Party now more than ever before. We may be America’s minority party at the moment, but Republicans represent the views and concerns of a majority of Americans.

So you think parties get voted out of office because they better represent the views and concerns of voters? You think Republicans lost the last two elections because of unavoidable twists of fate like "war is hard", the media "wouldn't report the good news", or simply "teh economiez accidentally blew up" ?

I realize it's your job to spin defeats, but parties don't lose when they better represent the views and concerns of voters.

Republicans across America – from our national and state leaders down to our local activists and grassroots supporters – have to get about the business of telling families how Republican principles of less spending, lower taxes, responsive and responsible government, personal freedom and strong national defense stand in stark contrast to the reckless policies we’ve seen from the president and Congressional Democrats in four short months.

Point by point:

• less spending: Republicans increased spending quite dramatically. What good is a principle that doesn't get applied?
• lower taxes: Yes, you did. But in a time of prosperity without commensurate cuts in spending, lowering taxes is irresponsible deficit spending.
  
• responsive and responsible government: If by responsive you mean overreacting to terror threats and if by responsible you mean grotesquely incompetent, o.k.
  
• personal freedom: Really? And here I thought you were the party of socially intolerant bigots and dominionist nutjobs. My mistake.
  
• strong national defense: Eh, welcome to the 21st Century. You already won the Cold War. Overreacting to a terror threast less deadly than the number of auto fatalities that year is not a sign of strength, but insanity.

Holistically, I don't think the contrast is stark at all. In fact--taken as a net whole--I considered Democrats to be better on these principles than Bush-Cheney Republicans were.

(i.e. Democrats are worse on some, but on the ones where they're better they are more significantly better, meaning a net plus)

Steele continues:

Republicans will not be afraid to agree with the president when we believe he is doing what is best for America, but neither will be afraid to disagree with him when we believe his actions are wrong for America.

A political party isn't afraid to have opinions and explain how it differs from their opposition; film at 11.

To accomplish this goal Republicans are turning a corner in three important ways:

First, the Republican Party will be forward-looking – it is time to stop looking backward. Republicans have spent ample time re-examining the past. It has been a healthy and necessary task. But I believe it is now time for Republicans to focus all of our energies on winning the future by emerging as the party of new ideas. Republicans are emerging once again with the energy, the focus, and the determination to turn our timeless principles into new solutions for the future.

Translation: We've spent enough time arguing amongst ourselves without any camp admitting that its overbearing social and national security conservatism and corporate supply-siderism has become toxic to the center. So let's brush it all under the rug and pretend everything's fine. Ignore the past and present, look forward!

Second, the Republican Party will not shy away from voicing our opposition to the president’s policies. His honeymoon is over. As a candidate, President Obama sounded moderate in his views. But as president, he is presiding over the most massive top-down expansion of government bureaucracy and spending our country has ever seen.

Yes, Obama has deftly claimed the rhetorical middle ground. That's smart politics. Pointing out that his mouth is in the center while his feet are walking left may be true, but it's not smart politics, particularly when the alternatives you offer have become toxic to the center.

Until you increase your own appeal to the center, yelling about how left Obama is while offering diametrically opposed alternatives is not going to help you persuade the center.

Candidate Obama talked about fiscal responsibility, about government living within its means. But President Obama is spending with reckless abandon and saddling our children and grandchildren with mountains of debt. Candidate Obama boasted about cutting taxes. But President Obama will have to raise taxes to pay for his massive top-down government explosion. Candidate Obama talked a lot about being bipartisan, but he has yielded his legislative agenda almost entirely to Nancy Pelosi who has repeatedly shut Republicans out of negotiations on important legislation, from economic stimulus to the budget to health care.

You know what's worse than hypocrites?

Hypocrites who call out other hypocrites for being hypocritical, i.e. Republicans who fail to govern according to their supposed principles (see list above) yet whine when Democrats do the same.

It's a second-order hypocrisy, and it won't sell. Voters will happy go with the Democrats' first-order hypocrisy which is at least rhetorically centrist and conciliatory.

Let me make one point clear – Republicans will not make our opposition to the president personal. Republicans will challenge policies of the president that we believe are wrong, but our opposition will be done in very sharp contrast to the classless way that the Democrats and the far left spoke of President Bush.

Ah, yes, I have a whole series from the campaign on Republicans staying classy. What lovely contrast.

Third, the Republican Party will seize upon momentum for a GOP resurgence that is already under way in states and local communities. I have traveled extensively since being elected RNC chairman, meeting with state party leaders and grassroots activists alike. There is genuine enthusiasm for a Republican balance to the reckless excesses of the president and congressional Democrats. I believe the Republican Party can ride that wave of local enthusiasm to victory in upcoming elections.

I'm sorry, was I interrupting your pep rally?

The Republican Party has turned a corner, and as we move forward Republicans should take a lesson from Ronald Reagan. Again, we’re not looking back – if President Reagan were here today he would have no patience for Americans who looked backward. Ronald Reagan always believed Republicans should apply our conservative principles to current and future challenges facing America. For Reagan’s conservatism to take root in the next generation we must offer genuine solutions that are relevant to this age.

Invoking Reagan in the context of not looking backward to Reagan's anachronistic policy proscriptions, i.e. recognizing that the problems of this age are not 1980's problems? Well done--seriously, I like this argument.

Republicans are getting about the business of America’s future, because our vision for America is far different than what the president and Congressional Democrats have shown thus far. And I fear the Democrats are just getting started.

Word of advice: stop spreading fear, stop trying to define yourself as being against Democrats, and concentrate on putting forward a coherent set of believable and actionable principles and policies that appeal to the middle.