Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Republicans Fight Back: A Bold Party Once Again With Michael Steele and Sharon Day

When all seemed lost conservatives found their voice. Since the election, turnout at GOP clubs throughout the nation has increased dramatically. Those who attend are more enthused than ever. Just as the Carter years acted as a catalyst to the Reagan Revolution, the scent of change is in the air and it’s not the kind of change you’ve been hearing about from the left. Republicans are back, better than ever.

It was the worst of times. The majority party just two years ago, Republicans have lost the Presidency, the House as well as the Senate, where they may well be reduced to 40 seats after Republican leads on election night in three races were each reversed (more on the mathematical probabilities of that happening under normal guidelines in another column) and a vulnerable incumbent is offered a prominent cabinet position. (Note: Those who have not yet emailed Sen. Gregg to encourage him to stay on are urged to do so by going here – Also email Senate Leader McConnell and ask him to offer Sen. Gregg a leadership role of some sort to keep him on.)

It was the best of times. As in the Carter years, when the dawn of a new conservative movement was set in motion, conservatives today are enthused, reinvigorated and ready for action. It’s not so much that we’ve gone back to our roots, though we have. It’s that we’re back to educating, back to playing offense and back to sharing our side of the story without finessing over half of our message for the sake of diplomacy. Leading us into battle is a new, bold and innovative team, lead by new RNC Chairman Michael Steele and RNC Secretary Sharon Day.

Michael Steele was by far the best choice for the job. One needed only to watch the RNC Candidates for Chair debate to see as much. Every time he spoke, his demeanor commanded the audience’s wrapped attention. He’s fast, to the point and can take on any Democrat in a one on one battle in a way that is rarely seen. His affable fighting style is, in many ways, Reaganesque. As a side note, Ken Blackwell, who helped push Steele over the edge at the convention, emerged from that debate as the most intelligent of the group. His strategic insights should be sought out by the RNC and they’d do well to retain his talent in some prominent capacity. But Steele, a smart man himself, was the most vibrant of the group by leaps and bounds.

Chairman Michael Steele is to media relations what his former brother-in-law Mike Tyson was to the boxing ring. And he brings with him a great team. In fact, our new RNC Secretary could give Tyson a run for his money.

RNC Secretary Sharon Day is a proven fighter. Words do not do justice when describing this true conservative who had her car wrapped for the Republican presidential nominee in each of the last three cycles. She did this while living in a county that is a bastion of liberalism and did not back down even as some Democrat supporters targeted her car in threatening and menacing ways, at times jumping off of bus benches to surround it.

Day was unanimously supported by all three founders of Rebuild the Party and by Top Conservatives on Twitter. Her online outreach campaign for RNC Secretary exceeded that of most candidates for Chairman of the RNC. In Day, the GOP has a proven fighter and a leader who will reinvigorate the party as no previous Secretary has before her. Her campaigned centered on drastically overhauling technology and on opening the lines of communication to the grassroots. Democrats watch out. In our new Secretary, there's a fighter in the room.

And on a state by state level, the GOP is assembling a team of winners like never before. In Florida, the most critical of swing states (as well as the largest), Dr. Marion Thorpe Jr. is recruiting thousands of minority voters to the party based solely on the strength of its ideals. That and the fact that during his tenure as the state’s Chief Medical Officer, this current candidate for the US Senate was instrumental in bringing the dynamic research of Scripps Health to Florida, an accomplishment that few others in either party can match. On the US House front, Republicans have recruited a war hero with the ability to convey true conservative values to voters from across the political spectrum. Lt. Col. Allen West has a Reaganesque ability that may well be unmatched by even the RNC dream team.

Nationally, Gov. Huckabee, another top ranking communicators of conservative values, has taken a page out of the Reagan playbook and is using the media as an outlet to convey his message during the off years, at a time when movements are shaped and molded. Across the nation, activists are demanding better and the party is becoming stronger, more aware and ready to fight its message with greater strength than ever before.

So America, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The Republican Party is strong, as are the ideals on which it stands. Sometimes there’s nothing like a good kick in the pants to reinvigorate and better a movement. We’ve been kicked with the hind legs of a donkey. But that’s no match for an elephant.