Michael Steele's False Sense of Entitlement

Michael Steele was elected as Chairman of the Republican National Committee less than a week after Barak Obama was elected president. The former Maryland Lieutenant governor was picked as an outsider to distance the Republic Party from the Bush Administration and its catastrophic defeats in the midterm elections of 2006 and the presidential election of 2008. Republicans wanted to reshape their image as a party that could elect a diverse group of internal directors while keeping to its conservative ideologies.

In the months leading up to the 2010 Midterm elections, Steele made some public gaffes that angered the base. His biggest mistake was calling the Afghan war "a War of Obama's choosing." On the face of it, the statement is true. But, its implications were much bigger: a declaration by the representative of the Republican Party showing that opposition to the administration was fair game even when it came to matters of National Security, Terrorism and the War on Terror not because it was inefficient, but because it had the Obama name to it. The use of a "surge" tactic by the Administration was supported by Republican Congressman, and this message showed an ignorance to the origins of the Afghan War (Bush Admin) and the implications of the Afghan War (National Security). Most importantly, it gave the perception that the Republican Party might value political partisanship over something as important as National Security.

His also had management and fiscal mistakes. His chief of staff and other aides were fired after using $2,000 of RNC money at a nightclub in West Hollywood. He also accumulated $20 million in debt with the RNC and lost many donors, catching the ire of the Republican base.

But, on the positive side he engineered the capture of the House of Representatives and major gains in gubernatorial races all over the country. And, he created a Republican 50-state strategy, including Democrat bulwarks that barely held or lost their seats.

Or did he?

While he can take credit for returning the House to Republican control, it was not his strategy that created such a result. Republican congressman like Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Paul Ryan took the helm in creating strategic language to show a massive divide between the goals of the Democratic-controlled Congress, the Administration and the Public. With the help of extremists like Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint and Dick Armey, the TEA Party arose as a standard bearer for conservative orthodoxy. The administrations fight over the healthcare bill and the perceived notion that they were ignoring the flailing economy worked well for Republicans in the midterm elections. Armed with filibuster, death panels, Obamacare, socialism, mounting debts, bailouts and Government Motors the Republicans Party took back the House from the Democrats and seriously reduced their majority in the Senate. Whether it was grassroots or astroturf, it did not happen because of the leadership of Micheal Steele.