Like A Steele Trap

[babylonsister]

:spray:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_02/022421.php

LIKE A STEELE TRAP.... Sometimes, he just makes it so easy.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appeared to be relishing Sen. Evan Bayh's (D-Ind.) decision not to seek re-election to his U.S. Senate seat in 2010.

In a statement, Steele put Bayh's announcement in the context of other recent Democratic retirements, saying that it was a sign Democrats were "running for the hills because they sold out their constituents and don't want to face them at the ballot box."

Is that so. Here are a handful of relevant details for the RNC to consider:

In the House, there are more Republicans retiring than Democrats.

In the Senate, there are more Republicans retiring than Democrats.

Among governors, there are more Republicans retiring than Democrats.

I can appreciate party hacks spinning as best they can, but c'mon. Does Michael Steele not have a staff to check his statements before they go out? Did it not occur to anyone at the RNC to think, "You know, if we use retirements as a baseline, and our retirements outnumber theirs, we may look foolish"?

—Steve Benen

[gratuitous]

1. Why would anyone fact check a Michael Steele pronouncement?

It's not like anyone that invites him on their show ever calls him on his nonsense. They all just thank him profusely for appearing, allow him to say whatever thoughts enter his silly little head, then thank him again for appearing. Nothing foolish about that, and Steele gets several more chances to catapult the propaganda all the while secure in the knowledge that no matter what he says nobody will call him on it.

I would relish the occasion to be dead wrong about this.

[babylonsister]

2. He's been called on his b.s. before, but not nearly enough. He is

really good at pissing his own party off, which tends to get a rise out of "the media". This probably won't be one of those times, since as you've said, no one will call him out on these 'facts'.

[MissMarple]

3. Heh...heh...heh. Do you think everyone in his office is as clueless as Steele?

Such gifts we have; Palin, Cheney, Steele, little Jonathan Krohn(see link below)...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7718733

Now, if we had a senate majority leader with Alan Grayson's backbone, we would be in a very good place to start using those gifts to much better effect.

[babylonsister]

4. You might get your wish if Reid fails to win; either Durbin or Schumer

might take up that title. Guess we'll see.