This is the sleazy person Michael Steele

[Rosa Luxemburg]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/12/AR2006111201084.html


Republicans bused in workers to pass out "Democratic Sample Ballots," which included Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Michael S. Steele. (Associated Press)

On board, 300 mostly poor African Americans from Philadelphia ate doughnuts, sipped coffee and prepared to spend the day at the Maryland polls. After an early morning greeting from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s wife, Kendel, they would fan out in white vans across Prince George's County and inner-city Baltimore, armed with thousands of fliers that appeared to be designed to trick black Democrats into voting for the two Republican candidates.

The glossy fliers bore photos of black Democratic leaders on the front. Under the headline "Democratic Sample Ballot" were boxes checked in red for Ehrlich and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele, who were not identified as Republicans. Their names were followed by a long list of local Democratic candidates.

Nearly a week later, a fuller picture has emerged about how the plan to capture blacks' votes unfolded -- details that suggest the fliers, and the people paid to distribute them, were not part of a hurry-up effort but a calculated strategy.

Republican leaders have defended the Election Day episode as an accepted element of bare-knuckle politics. But for many voters, it shattered in one day the nice-guy images Ehrlich and Steele had cultivated for years.

The plan to pass out the fliers in the heavily black precincts of Baltimore and Prince George's began to form in late October, when Malik Aziz, founder of the Ex-Offenders Association of Pennsylvania, said he received a phone call.

Aziz would not say who made the call. He initially said it came from actor Charles S. Dutton, a Steele supporter, but Dutton later denied this and Aziz retracted it.

Aziz said he's had a long association with Dutton, a reformed ex-offender who rose from Baltimore's tough streets to became an acclaimed television, film and stage actor and director. "I haven't talked to Malik Aziz in months," Dutton said last week.

Aziz said the caller asked him and his wife, Antoinette, to help Ehrlich and Steele find volunteers to do "poll work."

Antoinette Aziz said she recruited 300 people, many of them homeless or ex-offenders. "They need the work," she said.

She said representatives from the Maryland campaigns went to north Philadelphia last Monday night to speak with the workers at a recreation center. Darryl Preston, 32, was there and said several well-dressed men and women asked the crowd to consider "coming down for the day to work on a political campaign."

Each worker would receive three meals and $100 and would be picked up on buses and returned to the pickup location the same day.

CHEAT! TYPICAL GOP

[4lbs]

1. They've already pretty much admitted they can't win elections the normal way, so they have to get

a little "creative".

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. they feast off the poor

[firedupdem]

2. Rotten slimy bastard. n/t

[MADem]

3. I remember that election. Ehrlich used the FOX NEWS helicopter to go from one campaign stop to the

next in the closing days of the campaign.

The selection of Steele is IMPORTANT, though. It's a signal that the GOP is going on a rebuilding and rebranding campaign. They're not going to just do the same old "business as usual" bullshit. They're going after a new demographic. I suspect that the fundies and the haters are going to the back of the bus, and the "crunchy cons" are going to get to ride up front now.

It may take years. It probably WILL take them years. But anyone who thinks they are done for and will never rise again has never seen a ghoulish horror movie before.

They could have selected that racist "Barack the Magic Negro" guy. If they wanted to get a little down with the brown, while still transmitting a GOP Old School attitude, they could have elected Ken "Throw that election" Blackwell. But they didn't. They picked a guy who, like it or not, is extremely AFFABLE. He's also a guy who wears his ideology like a windbreaker--he can take it off when the weather gets too warm and stuff it in his golf bag.

Mark my words--just as the election of Obama signalled a sea change in American politics, that the rightward trend was going to cease, the election of Steele to RNC chair (a position once held by Poppy Bush, FWIW--though it's not, historically, a path to the Presidency) signals that the GOP are going to go outside their recent traditional comfort zones to rebuild and grow their party. Expect, in future, to see more Sue Collins types, and fewer Jesse Helms characters.

Take nothing for granted. No resting on laurels, no sitting on hands....they are already planning the road back. At the end of the day, ideology is less important than the acquisition and maintenance of POWER.

[WinkyDink]

4. They still have Palin to deal with; she's pretty much "old brand".

[acmavm]

5. I wondered why no one mentioned her worthless ass. That would be

quite a ticket, her and Steele in 1012. A faker Hillary and a fake Obama. And I'm sure that the repubics think they're on to something here.

[lunatica]

11. Rush mentioned her in his puffed up heavy handed brow beating way

He was talking to them since he's taken to being their party leader.

[MADem]

15. Actually, the articulator of the "Crunchy Con" phenom despises her.

She's the opposite side of the GOP as far as they are concerned. The thing is, the Palin People tend to be older, if not in years, in mindset. The Crunchy Cons, though, are the ones who will glom on to the "image" of Steele and use it to advance their agendas. The Crunchy Cons will take issues like food safety and environmental stewardship off the table as points of difference, because they're "organic" in their souls and like clean air and water, too. They like stuff like "energy independence" and hybrid cars and low carbon footprints, too. They think those truths are self-evident, and not something to argue over.

A bit more info on this unique brand of Republican--forgive the righty site link--this is written from the perspective of a Republican who dislikes the whole Crunchy Con movement. However, the cites do a good job of edifying. I know this is a real movement, even though no one talks much about it--I've SEEN it, live and in color; these Bush freaks at the Whole Foods driving Hybrid Lexus monstrosities, and I think this Dreher guy, like it or not, is on to something. These people are the "change" generation of the GOP:

http://www.thenextright.com/warner-todd-huston/crunchy-cons-rod-dreher-thinks-republicans-will-lead-populist-anti-business-revol

Rod Dreher, author of the "crunchy cons" definition of that certain sort of "Birkenstock wearing, environmental, gun-loving" Republican has weighed in on the economic crisis the US faces and is attempting to further expand his factional theory of the conservative side of the political aisle. This time Dreher is claiming that the next anti-corportate, anti-Wall Street populist revolt will be led by his "crunchy con" faction of the center-right electorate, but I think he misses the mark with this one.

Linking the current economic crisis to past religious revivals that have periodically swept the country, what he calls a "creedal passion period," Dreher thinks he sees where this will all soon be heading, at least as far as center-right voters are concerned.

Don't be surprised if 2009 is the year that the creedal-passion dam gives way and a new populism arises to wash away many conventional assumptions about American politics – and come the 2010 elections, many conventional politicians.

Just you wait. We are soon going to see some sort of populist movement stirring at the grassroots. Ironically, it's more likely to emerge from the right than the left. After all, the Democrats have a status quo to protect, and few conservatives have much faith in the current Republican leadership.

Dreher goes on to say that conservatives are "ripe" for an anti-Wall Street, anti-corporate populist movement and the dreaded demagogue that often goes with such a movement. ...

I think we ignore or dismiss these people at our peril. It's not that long ago that Bill Clinton won the White House, and two short years later, Newt "I did the same things in MY office" Gingrich was making his life--and our lives--miserable.

Oh, but before I forget--the PALIN stuff! This guy really does dislike her. This is from the same rightwinger who disagrees with Dreher's assessment that she's a stark-raving loonie:

Dreher also proves to be overtaken by Parkeritis, which would be defined as an ostensibly conservative writer that hates Sarah Palin so much that it seems to make him lose his mind in the process.

What would a healthy conservative populism look like? Not like Sarah Palin's saccharine shtick, which candy-coated conventional Republican ideas with a bright red culture-war gloss. Palinism co-opts and deflects legitimate populist anger by allowing its adherents to hate elites without really challenging the system. A true conservative populism would not tolerate an arrangement in which the few profit at the expense of the many – which, no matter how many flags she waves or hockey games she attends, is all Palin offers.

These Crunchy Cons are the Republicans that will challenge the Democratic Party, I suspect--these are the "Contract With America" (which I used to call the Contract ON America) people of this generation. No one talks about them much, because they fly under the radar--so far. I think Steele is the guy who signals that "Change They Can Believe In" and I think we'd do well to take note of it and plan accordingly. JMO.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. yes

That's a good term 'crunchy cons'

[MADem]

13. It's actually a genuine phenom--it's conservatives who shop at Whole Foods and wear

Birkinstocks and are environmentally responsible. It's your yuppie, "counterculture" neighbor, pulling the lever for Bush. A guy wrote a book about it (excerpt from the book at the link).

Seriously!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5256754

All Things Considered, March 10, 2006 · At a time when the Republican Party seems to be fracturing from within, commentator Rod Dreher says it's time for the GOP to return to its roots. And he thinks conservatives could find inspiration from fellow Republicans who embrace a counter-cultural yet traditional conservative lifestyle -- what Dreher dubs "Crunchy Cons."

"Crunchy cons prefer old houses and mom-and-pop shops to McMansions and strip malls.... Many of us homeschool our kids, and cheerfully embrace nonconformity. I read Edmund Burke and wear Birkenstock sandals. Go figure."

[Rosa Luxemburg]

14. there's plenty of them around here

they are up to saving green space and protesting against development! Insurgency!

[MADem]

16. I live amongst a pocket full of them, myself. They're not obvious, that's for sure. NT

[ShortnFiery]

6. Some nutcase woman on CSPAN now wants Steele to run on "Biblical Principles"

Oh boy, these factions are going to get along like OIL and WATER. :crazy:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

12. it's hardly Biblical to run such a sleazy operation

[seemunkee]

9. The blue signs with Steele Democratc

Were slightly disingenuous also. When he was called on it, his campaign said they meaning was that the people were Democrats that liked Steele.


I bet he doesn't really like puppies either.

[MzShellG]

10. Sort of off topic.....

But I read that His sister, Monica, married and divorced Mike Tyson. Isn't Tyson a repuke as well? Didn't know they were inlaws.

[firedupdem]

17. Here ya go...

Former brother-in-law of Steele, Mike Tyson, jumped on the Steele for Senate bandwagon. Who knew that the endorsement of a convicted rapist with a face tattoo couldn't win over the black masses.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

24. yes there were even more dubious characters in his campaign

[Blue_Tires]

27. tin foil-y on my part

but given the length that marraige and timing of the divorce, i always thought steele was just trying to tap into some of tyson's wealth to help fuel the campaign...if you looked into his sister's well-to-do and highly educated background, she NEVER seemed to be the type who willfully jumps into a marraige with tyson and his baggage

[Rosa Luxemburg]

28. well she did and got out of it

Tyson still supported Steele for his Senate campaign

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

18. Is anyone surprised? Rethugs have to cheat to win.

[Doctor_J]

19. He doesn't LOOK like a Repuke, but he sure acts like one

Stupid, corrupt, sleazy.

[BlooInBloo]

20. It's funny. They tried with a worthless woman, and now they're trying with a worthless black guy...

They just don't get it.

[Hello_Kitty]

21. He also lied about being pelted with Oreos during a speech. nt

[Still Sensible]

23. Had to be bullshit

why waste perfectly good cookies?

[Vattel]

22. I live in Maryland and

I remember all the blue signs aimed at tricking people into thinking that Steele is a Democrat. What amazes me is that someone who is willing to pervert the democratic process in that way isn't despised by Republicans and Democrats alike.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

25. He really thought he was going to win

I'm glad Ban Cardin was standing against him.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. The most despicable and baffling thing is to see some black conservatives

and Republicans defend Steele's behavior. They have no moral compass at all...

[Number23]

26. Good grief, this needs to be on the Greatest Page

Thanks for posting. Happy to rec

[Rosa Luxemburg]

29. Thanks, people need to know that Steele isn't clean

[traxster]

31. He seems to fit right in... n/t