Playing Possum?

Since being crowned head of the RNC, Michael Steele (who I once held in very high regards) has been to say the least as spineless as the pResident. He has not overall given the party a direction, a platform, pushed any sort of opposition agenda to stand up to the other party that is in power. The Tea Party movement, has emerged, a movement that really carries Reaganesque values that are perfect for the Repubs to take up as their own, yet from the RNC, the crickets chirped...a few such as Jim Dement (R)SC, Ron and Rand Paul, etc. have taken up he cause but the RNC sat silently watching as many Republicans on Capitol hill cried "the teabaggers are going to split the party...wah wah... .

That is until recently. The last couple of times I have heard Steele speak, he has sounded reinvigorated. He has finally said that the ideals discussed in the various 9/12, tea party, etc movements are the same principles Reagan brought to the party which are winning principles which we (the Republicans must adopt.) I believe I saw this on Hannity a few weeks to a month ago, and have head bits and pieces of similar statements by Steele recently. I was quite stunned by Steele actually sounding like he had grown, if not a backbone, at least some good cartilage back there. So I am wondering....has Steele been, as my cousins in Tennessee would say playing possum... or has internal polling, other sources of data finally convinced the RNC that the 9/12 tea party type movements gained so much momentum that sheer numbers are giving the Republicans no choice but to move in this direction.

When Steele was first chosen as head of the RNC, I believed him to be a good choice and a real pro-liberty conservative. His conduct since has been pathetic, but right around the time of (possibly on the same T.V. episode) Hannity's mea culpa moment, Steele has carried a much stronger tone. Hannity at that time said his unwavering support for Republicans has come to an end. Reason being because at heart, Hannity is a "Libertarian." (Yeah and frying pans grow wings after they hatch too, right?) Honestly, I can't say what's in a man's heart, but I do not hear real libertarian ideology from Hannity often on radio or TV so I am a skeptic there.

Since then though, Steele has sounded like a different person. He has made a push within the Republican party to move back toward the pro-liberty Reaganesque policies and ideologies that actually won elections and brought about the Repub Revolution in 94. So has Steele suddenly had a change of heart or was Steele the person I believed him to be before his election to the RNC, and was simply laying low, biding his time until campaign season waiting to the right time to go on the attack? I don't know, and am not yet sold on Steele or the Republicans by any means, but I have seen a recent move by the RNC led by Steele in the right direction. Recent polls have shown a majority of Americans want a new party for the fist time in my lifetime. The Repubs could follow the lead of folks like Demint, Paul (both), Palin, and go with Beck's "in or out" plan or something similar and become that party. It will take a very rapid, fundamental transformation, but suggesting that a new "Contract with America", a newer version of Newt's from 94 being forthcoming is a good start which Steele recently did. There are many "retake the the Republican Party" movements here in Florida. Maybe these groups have gotten through to the hard headed politicians. I will attend one such meeting tonight for the first time as I have been invited by a friend. This will be a double agenda event for me as I want to hear their ideas, and get questions to ask candidates running for office. I make no bones about not being a Republican, and my leanings toward a third party. However, if the Republicans can get he message through to the American people that they understand where they went wrong under Bush 43 and will do all they can to undo those mistakes...there is still a glimmer of hope (which has been KOOK's viewpoint all along) that the Republicans could become that party, and I admit doing so would be much easier on America than splitting the country 3 ways. So, it is my hope that Steele is the "Reagan Conservative" who he previously made himself out to be and has been playing possum. I also hope change in attitude of folks like Hannity and Limbaugh who have moved away from being "compassionate (big government) conservatives", and towards the grassroots pro-liberty movement so-quickly gaining steam is from the heart and not just for ratings. Hannity and Limbaugh have the ear of many on Capitol Hill and could be very effective in pushing just the fundamental changes in the Republican Party that worked so well for Reagan, and Newt so many years ago.