Michael Steele Is No Barack Obama
Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
There has been quite a bit of elation in Republican circles since Maryland’s Michael Steele became the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee. He’s even being called the guy who can stand up to Barack Obama and challenge him. Wow, I am ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing).
Anyone trying to make a comparison between Barack Obama and Michael Steele needs to not only start doing their research, but a lot of soul searching as well. You’ll discover that… Michael Steele is no Barack Obama.
Quoting a recent article by Charles Mathesian on Politico.com 2/1/09…
“Clearly Obama’s success contributed to Steele’s victory,” said former Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas), who served two terms as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Had Obama not won, I can’t imagine the Republicans would have elected an African-American chairman.”
Obama’s historic presidency, the way in which he won and the scale of the crises he inherits have scrambled some of the underlying assumptions about American elections and politics and altered the laws of political logic.
“Barack Obama’s a phenomenon,” said California Republican Committeeman Shawn Steel after Friday’s election. “It’s going to take a phenomenon just to challenge him. Michael is the one guy we have, regardless of background, who can do that.” Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!
Michael Steele is exactly the type of “black” politician that most African-Americans have tried to distance themselves from over the years whether Democrat or Republican. He is the polar opposite of Barack Obama, and doesn’t hesitate to hitch his wagon to whatever he thinks will make his star rise. In other words, Michael Steele is all about himself. Just ask the folks in Maryland.
His recent unremarkable one term stint as Lieutenant Governor to Robert Erlich (2003-2007) gave him many photo opts which he most assuredly took advantage of however, I don’t recall ever hearing a memorable anything he said that was positive. In fact, when he had the opportunity to speak after winning the RNC chairmanship he couldn’t think on his feet.
Oh, I did forget one though…the statement where is declared that being a black Republican was like wearing the scarlet “R” on his forehead which makes moving through politics difficult for him. I do remember how proud he was of being Mike Tyson’s legal counsel and in-law, until the need to distance himself began to surface. I simply don’t recall very much about his public service or community activity, and politically there isn’t much beyond state chairmanships for the GOP.
There are many adjectives available to accurately describe the persona of Michael Steele, which I’ll leave up to the reader’s imagination, except suffice it to say that he will do whatever his master (the GOP) asks if he believes it will get him into the big house; not caring at all about the folks he tramples along the way.
Does he stand out in a crowd? Absolutely, because he is standing in a sea of white Republicans grinning like the Cheshire Cat from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
© 2009 Sharon Moore Stenhouse All Rights Reserved
