Michael Steele, the RNC Chairman, stated that “We are going to take the president head-on. The honeymoon is over. The two-party system is making a comeback, and that comeback starts today." He goes on to say that they, however, will not make the comeback "shabby" and "classless" -- the way the Democrats attacked George Bush. While Steele's advisers insisted that the Republican party should attack a weaker Republican figure such as Nancey Pelosi or Barney Frank, Steele stands firm in his decision to directly attack Barack Obama. Steele states that "we are going to challenge those policies that we believe are wrong, and we are going to do so without apology and without a second thought.”
This is a very interesting article, not in terms of its tangible content, but, rather, in terms of the exposition of a lot of the inner workings of our political system. It serves as an excellent case study of the behavior of political parties.
For one, we can see that after a political party has been decimated by the opposition, it still has the ability to pick itself back up and keep fighting. This clearly shows the pendulum-like motion that our government exhibits because of our two-party system. The Republicans (even this early after their defeat) are fighting to push the Pendulum of Power back to the right.
Furthermore, we can see the amorphous qualities of political parities being exposed. The Republican party is attempting to generate a new facade by making it appear as the "underdog." Steele admits that “Our success will not be found in dusting off old campaign manuals from the 70’s and 80’s. Our success will be found in speaking directly to the American people about a rebirth of the American Dream for this generation and generations to come." And also that “The Republican Party is again going to emerge as the party of new ideas."
I personally believe that it will take a lot of effort and time (on the part of the Republicans) to get the American people to distrust Obama. This belief hinges on the idea that the Obama cult-following is very powerful, and, as factions are often considered equalizing apparatuses, will not take lightly to attacks. However, a lot of this depends on the performance of Obama himself... whether he himself can keep his promises and images may determine the fate of his party.
Very cool article!
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Nice post Nick, very timely! The GOP having to brand itself as the "underdog" is kind of funny. For a party that is in the minority on all levels it seems that this role would be obvious. He also makes the comments about a "clean" fight and then turns around and makes numerous off color and derogatory comments about the democrats and Obama himself. The GOP and its vast number of leaders (Rush, Cheney, Rove) are attacking day after day with little to no amount of civility. So while the article caught Steele and was able to paint him in a positive light it is clear that he can't hold this line. Not to mention the fact that most Republicans want Steele to be removed from his position of RNC chair. You are correct though, they will find a voice and if Obama is failing they need to capitalize on it.
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