The future of the GOP: Steele should not become the next chair

Somewhat lost in the economic crisis and the transition goings on of President-elect Obama, is another major piece of news and some have even said crisis: the war over the future of the Republican Party. After two back to back elections where the Republican Party has suffered major defeats in the House and Senate, as well as John McCain’s thumping in the electoral college, 365 electoral votes for Obama and 173 electoral votes for McCain, where states that had not gone blue in over thirty years (Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana). Democrats gained at least twenty seats in the House of Representatives and at least seven in the Senate (there are still some races that have yet to be decided).

The one thing the Republican Party agrees on is the fact that its message is no longer resonating with Americans. However, nobody can agree on what to do about fixing the problem. Some are arguing that the problem is that Republican’s are not being conservative enough and that it should veer further to the right, especially on social issues, while others believe that it is too conservative and has strayed from its roots as the party of small government and low taxes.

At the beginning of 2009, the Republican National Committee will have to select its new chairman and there are several names being mentioned for the position. There is Katon Dawson, Michael Steele, Saul Anuzis, Mike Duncan (who currently is the RNC chair) and Al Cardenas. Whomever becomes the party’s chair will inheiret a party that is on the brink of civil war and will be tasked with rebuilding the entire party’s operation.

At this moment, former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele appears to be in the top two for the position. However, picking him as chairman of the Republican National Committee could be a grave mistake. To the general public, the move would be viewed as reactionary to Barack Obama’s being elected president, as Steele is African-American. It would look to be pandering of the highest form and send the message of, “look we have high-ranking African-Americans in our party too!” (not to mention the fact that the RNC attempted this in 2006 when they made Florida Senator Mel Martinez the chairman of the RNC in an effort to win over Hispanic voters). After Obama delivered his memorable keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the GOP selected Steele to do the same and touted him as “the Republican Obama.” His address to the Republican National Convention didn’t bomb, but it was neither good nor memorable. In 2006, Steele was soundly defeated for an open Senate seat in Maryland and he then retreated to form a PAC in the hopes that he would somehow be able to move forward with his political career. Since 2006, that career has remained in neutral, while other Republicans have moved past him (Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, Charlie Crist, Mark Sanford and Sarah Palin).

Since 2006, Steele has accomplished little for Republicans and the Republican Party. He has attended fundraisers on their behalf, but he has not helped run a political organization or do the work required to win elections (he has not been asked to). He has never run an organization as large as the Republican Party and has no experience in the type of work that goes into making it a successful operation. To put it gently: the Republican Party needs a crisis manager and Michael Steele is not that. He is telegenic and very good at working a cocktail party, but that is about the extent of it.

Michael Steele

Should Michael Steele become the chairman of the Republican Party, he will have two things going for him though: an economic crisis that becomes the sole responsibility of the Democratic Party on January 20, 2009 at noon eastern time and the Clintons. If the economy continues to go south (which all signs show that it will) throughout the first half of next year, the approval rating of the Obama administration and Congress will sink. With Clinton, there is no force greater than Hillary and Bill Clinton returning to power (assuming Senator Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state) that can help scare the Republican Party into organizing itself away from civil war and launching an all out offensive on the Clintons.

The economy and the Clintons might give Steele a helping hand, but cand he lead the Republican Party out of its dark days? As one of our GOP sources put it, “Probably not. There is a sizeable group of us in the Republican Party that would come into work every single day unhappy and we already have no confidence in Michael Steele.”

Sunday talk show lineup for November 30

Face the Nation: Bob Woodward, Fareed Zakaria, Michael Eric Dyson & Jane Mayer

ABC’s This Week: Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), then a roundtable with Torie Clarke, Matthew Dowd, Donna Brazile & George Will

Fox News Sunday: Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) & Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)

Meet The Press: Laura Bush, Afhganistan’s ambassador to the US Said Jawad & Ted Turner

President-elect Obama’s Thanksgiving message

Obama fills out his national security team

In addition to keeping Robert Gates as secretary of defense, choosing Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and selecting James Jones as national security adviser, President-elect Obama has filled almost all of the other major national security positions. Here are the three major appointments:

• Susan Rice will be US ambassador to the UN
• James Steinberg will be deputy secretary of state
• Former Admiral Dennis Blair will be director of national intelligence

All announcements about national security positions are not expected to be offically announced until next week. Additionally, John Brennan, who was a leading candidate to be CIA director, withdrew from consideration over the netroots’ reaction to his being involved in implementing President Bush’s use of torture as an interrogation technique. There is no word on who could now be the next CIA director.

Jones to be national security advisor

General James Jones (ret.)

President-elect Barack Obama has selected retired General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Jones as his national security adviser. According to those with inside knowledge of the role Jones will play, Jones will be one of the most powerful national security advisers in history and will wield the same, if not more, power than Henry Kissinger held when he was national security adviser.

Gates to remain as defense secretary

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been asked by President-elect Obama to remain at the Pentagon as secretary. Gates has agreed and will remain for at least one year.

It is widely viewed that keeping Gates, which is a move that has been advocated for by both Democrats and Republicans, will help the military execute a shift in mission strategy with regard to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates will most likely receive a new deputy who will be next in line for his position. The most often mentioned candidate for deputy secretary is former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig.

Obama taps Orszag to run OMB

President-elect Obama has named Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag as the next director of the Office of Management and Budget. Obama also selected Rob Nabors to serve as deputy director of OMB.

Kaufman to replace Biden in Senate

Ted Kaufman has been named by Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner to replace Vice President-elect Joe Biden in the Senate when he resigns to become vice president. Kaufman, a longtime friend and close adviser to Biden, is believed to be a placeholder for Biden’s son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, who cannot take the seat in right now due to his currently being deployed in Iraq.

Obama announces his economic team

With the bios below:

Who could replace Clinton in the Senate?

When Hillary Clinton gives up her seat in the Senate to become secretary of state (assuming she is confirmed), New York Governor David Paterson will be able to appoint a replacement of his choosing to finish the remaining four years of Clinton’s term. While many believe that Paterson will look to either remove political opposition by appointing them to the seat or to win over support for his own reelection bid in 2010, a large list of

• NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo- he is the main political opponent of Paterson, the former HUD secretary under Bill Clinton and the son of one of New York’s more famous governors, Mario Cuomo
• Robert Kennedy Jr.- a policy expert with great appeal throughout New York. He works as an environmentalist and would become one of the Senate’s top experts on the environment and alternative energy. Also, the seat used to belong to his father, Robert Kennedy
• Rep. Steve Israel- a prolific fundraiser and shrewd politician. He represents part of Long Island, which has not had representation in the Senate since Al D’Amato
• Rep. Anthony Weiner- has been seen as somebody ready to move up, but has spent the last four years gearing up for a 2009 run for New York City mayor
• Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand- first elected in 2006, was a successful businesswoman and now an upstate New York politician. She could hold the seat for thirty years
• Rep. Nita Lowey- originally was running for Clinton’s seat in 2000, until she was asked to drop out to make room for Clinton. She was recently asked about her interest in the seat and she said that if she were a few years younger, she would like it, but would not take it because of her age
• Rep. Nydia Velazquez- selecting her would be primarily so that Paterson could help his support with Hispanics
• Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown- a popular African-American mayor, but is unknown outside of the greater Buffalo area
• Rep. Gregory Meeks- many believe that if it were four years from now, he would be ready, but he is not ready to be a senator right now
• Rep. Brian Higgins- popular for his policies that promote protecting the middle class

Richardson tapped for secretary of Commerce

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has officially been offered and accepted the position of secretary of Commerce. The announcement will be made tomorrow at a Chicago press conference, but not the news conference announcing President-elect Obama’s economic team.

Obama to announce economic team tomorrow

President-elect Barack Obama will announce his economic team at a Chicago news conference tomorrow at noon (eastern). The most important announcement will be Timothy Geithner as secretary of Treasury. Also being announced is former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, who will be the top White House economic adviser.

Richardson to commerce?

Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) is widely believed to be the leading contender to lead the Department of Commerce. The position is not Richardson’s preference, as it has been widely known that he coveted the job of secretary of state (which went to Hillary Clinton), but he is expected to accept if offered the position by President-elect Obama.

Obama’s weekly address for November 22

Obama picks Geithner for Treasury secretary; Dow shoots up almost 500 points in reaction

Timothy Geithner

President-elect Obama has chosen New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as his Treasury secretary. Geithner had been considered the frontrunner for over a week after the possibility of the selection of former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers met considerable resistance from women’s groups.

Word of the Geithner selection began to leak out at 3pm yesterday when the Dow was down just over 30 points. In the next hour, the Dow rocketed up just over 524 points closing up 494 points or 6.54% for the day. The movement is clearly considered a vote of confidence in Obama’s selection of Geithner.

Sunday talk show lineup for November 23

Meet The Press: former Secretary of State James Baker, former Secretary of Commerce William Daley, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) then a roundtable with Paul Ingrassia, Erin Burnett & Chuck Todd

ABC’s This Week: David Axelrod, senior adviser to President-elect Obama, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), then a roundtable featuring David Brooks, Robert Kuttner, Arianna Huffington & George Will

Fox News Sunday: David Axelrod, senior adviser to President-elect Obama, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) & House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

Face the Nation: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) & Austan Goolsbee, economic adviser to President-elect Obama

Clinton accepts secretary of state position; Holbrooke could be deputy

Senator Hillary Clinton has decided to accept the position of secretary of state. The selection of Clinton is by far the biggest risk so far made by President-elect Obama, as it could help reorganize the Republican Party, it also has a very high reward.

Richard Holbrooke, the former US ambassador to the UN under President Clinton, is now being considered for the important position of deputy secretary of state. Holbrooke has deep connections to the Clintons as he served them for the entire length of Bill Clinton’s presidency and was a supporter of Senator Clinton’s own presidential bid. However, Holbrooke faces significant resistance from many of President-elect Obama’s top foreign policy advisers who have not gotten along with him and had numerous policy disagreements.

BREAKING: Attorney General Mukasey collapses

CNN is reporting that Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed while giving a speech at a dinner hosted by the Federalist Society.

Update: Politico is reporting that paramedics are working on him on stage and that peope in attendance are praying, fearing that Mukasey suffered a stroke.

Report: Jones is leading candidate for national security adviser

According to ABC News, former General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Jones is the leading candidate to be national security adviser. It also is reporting that James Steinberg, who was deputy national security adviser under President Clinton, is also under consideration and that retired Admiral Dennis Blair is the top candidate for the role of director of national intelligence. There is no word on when President-elect Obama will make his final decision on these two positions.

Chuck Todd gives the latest on the Obama cabinet