marmel.com » RNC

If Obama’s numbers are about to hit rock bottom, the GOP is already there to cushion the fall.

Steve Marmel — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:08:58 +0000

So, if you’ve been following the MSM of late, you’d get the feeling that Obama’s popularity is in free fall. That it’s some sort of death spiral that no president can pull out of. While I’m sure he’s losing some support – who wants to be pals with somebody who gets screamed at all the time? It’d be like having to hang around with one of those eunuchs on Hollywood Husbands – there’s a point that seems to have been completely ignored.

As low as Obama is, the GOP is lower. From John Amato over at Crooks and Liars:

We constantly are seeing polling down from the major news services that follow President Obama’s approval ratings and it is an important stat to keep track of, but can you tell me what the media is not covering? How low the Republicans have been polling ever since they became the party of “Waterloo.”

The Democratic leaders do have terrible polling numbers, Nancy Pelosi has a 34% approval rating in DKOS’s new poll and Harry Reid has a 31% approval rating, but let’s take a look at the Republican leadership, shall we?

Mitch McConnell is polling at an 18% approval rating. That’s eighteen percent. John Boehner is polling at 12% approval rating. Just think about that one. And it doesn’t take much to make him cry. Mitch and Boehner are viewed less favorably than Dick Cheney was during the dark days of the Bush administration. Why don’t we hear about that on teevee?

The overall approval ratings of Congressional Republicans is 17% as a party! The Dems are taking their lumps over this chaotic time, but nowhere near the kinds of wounds the GOP are suffering. The media make it appear that all these teabaggers are rallying around the RNC and the country just loves the Beltway elites’ favorite party, but that’s not true at all.

Let’s see if we hear any of this on the Sunday talk Shows. But I won’t hold my breath.

It’s an incredibly valid point.

Couple it with the numbers that Letterman pulled from Obama’s recent visit. 7.2 million. Think about that – 7.2 million people stayed up past their bed time to hear what the President had to say about health care, and mostly, remind themselves as to why they voted for him in the first place. The “I was black before the election” line was both hilarious and courageous.

So, what to do with this? Well:

If you’re the GOP, you might want to look inward, my sons. Sarah Palin’s ridiculous behavior in Asia, John Boehner’s orange-faced arrogance, Eric Cantor’s snickering, Joe Wilson’s recreational racist outburst, All of this nonsense, coupled by Beck and Hannity and Limbaugh going unchecked by the mainstream Republicans in the party. They might be able to tick some of Obama’s numbers down, but they are burying their own to do it.
If you’re a Dem, you’re not thrilled, but this is something to take heart over. Elections are graded on a curve. You don’t need to have a certain amount of votes to get an “A,” the highest number wins. And if you look at the polling, there’s nothing in there for the GOP be doing an endzone dance about.

Look – Pelosi and Reid suck – and if they had any kind of political acumen at all, they would be kicking the crap out of their opponents. 22% still think the GOP is doing a good job? My Spidey-sense says that’s the evangelical vote, and those hard cores aren’t going anywhere. They will always either vote conservative, or stay home.

My take away? It means the Dems should stick to the core message. Even if it’s less popular than it was months ago, it’s still — according to the numbers – the best looking girl at the dance.

The debate might be grinding into a less civil paste with every news cycle, but it’s grinding everybody in the same direction. And at the bottom of that grind, is the GOP.

You might not have known that.

Now you do.

Another Sunday funday for Michael Steele

Steve Marmel — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:22:16 +0000

Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 11:36am | Edit Note | Delete

Patsy Cline, anybody?

RNC Chairman Michael Steele said he is “done” reaching out to the president, having apparently been rebuffed in his previous attempts to start a dialogue. In an interview with CNN that aired over the weekend, the Maryland Republican said he could detect no bipartisanship coming from the White House, stating that Barack Obama “has got a little thing about me that I haven’t quite figured out.”

The remarks were a new installment in yet another bizarre interview given by the Republican National Committee chair. As aired earlier, Steele told CNN that he would contemplate a president run if God told him the time was right. He also claimed to have strategically planned his squabble with Rush Limbaugh, in which he called the radio talk show host’s work incendiary and ugly.

In the clips that aired on CNN this weekend, Steele delved once more into the interpersonal psychoses of politics, quickly dismissing questions over whether he was jealous of Obama’s ascension to the White House.

“What would I be jealous of?,” he said. “I’m chairman of the RNC, so, what’s your point? We both have leadership responsibilities and roles. I’m not equating the two. My point is: you are on your track. I’m on my track. You do your thing. I do my thing.”

Uh, you get that he’s the President and you’re the guy who runs the opposition party, and is desperately hoping to tear him down, right? Presidents sit down with Presidents, not the political equivalent of TMZ or Perez Hilton.

Jeez.

So… This is your voice, GOP.

Help me out. Besides Limbaugh, who is out of his mind and Palin who is out of her league, who can speak for you?

This is the guy that’s bringing everybody together? Or are he and Bobby Jindal the meat you’re throwing to the wolves until you figure out who’s on board for 2012?

2010 is gonna be pretty ugly for you all at this pace.

So besides the Louisiana guy who talked down to me in his big speech and the unethical ice princess who helped the Republicans lose 2008, who’s out there who would sway someone like me?

Guys like me who are annoyed by AIG bonuses, finds the Afghanistan thing a little disheartening, wonders why we’re not shoving a stick in North Korea’s eyes and getting our hostages back, and a host of other things that have made my eye brows arch the last few weeks?

(Note: Still waiting on 100 days here, but you get my point)

I am 100% behind our President and his agenda. But do you know why I’m not even 1% behind anybody else?

There is no one who’s voice doesn’t make me cringe, who’s point of view doesn’t make me embarrassed, who’s shrillness doesn’t make me turn my head, and who’s insensitivity to those different than them doesn’t make me want to push back.

Who is that person to the right? Does he or she exist?

It ain’t Limbaugh. It ain’t Michael Steele. It ain’t Palin, or Jindal.

So who is it? And what’s the plan?

Or are you just waiting for a mistake, a collapse, an attack, or a failure? Because that’s no way to rally a nation.

Or even a single voter.

Really?

Steve Marmel — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:16:18 +0000

The word I am looking for is “Waaaaaa.”

The Democrats have controlled the Congress and the White House for less than a month, the chairman of the Republican Party says, “and you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads…

“”For the last two weeks, they’ve been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief,” Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, says in a Saturday address.

The address comes on a day in which the Senate is debating a compromise economic stimulus that negotiators from both parties have produced – but the Republicans don’t appear too enamored with it. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is saying today that the agreement looks more like $827 billion than the $780 billion that negotiators have represented. Add interest costs, he complains, and it’s still $1 trillion.

The GOP is still promoting tax cuts as the solution.

“All of us – Republicans and Democrats – agree the government must act to kick-start the American economy. American families are doing their best to balance their own budgets and pay their mortgages,” Steele says. “”The fastest way to help those families is by letting them keep more of the money they earn. Individual empowerment: that’s how you stimulate the economy.”

Steele suggests that his own party cannot only oppose the package, but also must offer Americans a reasonable alternative: “Voting ‘no’ is not enough,” he says, “and Republicans have offered innovative ideas to help struggling families and small businesses. We’ve offered plans to spark job creation and investment through lower taxes, to stop the taxation of unemployment benefits, and to help Americans keep their jobs and their homes.”

Ha. Okay.

It’s been a month and the power has gone to their heads.

How about this – it’s been a month, and this is the first order of business, and you and yours aren’t happy about it not being your sandbox anymore.

Spending bill? Didn’t have a problem when it was your party.
Bailouts? Didn’t have a problem when it was your party.
No plan to payback? Didn’t have a problem when it was your party.
Too much power on one side? See three previous.

These are shallow arguments and false complaints by people with shaky moral foundations at best.

It’s gotta suck – seeing all that money go out the door, and know that it’s not lining the pockets of your pals…

…but thems the breaks. You guys blew it SO bad you lost three branches of government. So congrats.

Now suck it up, pull on your big boy pants and get to work.

And we’ll have this discussion again anywhere between two to eight years from now.