The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Michael "Zelig" Steele

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In 1983, Woody Allen made the mockumentary film Zelig about a man who longs for approval so badly that he changes to fit the people who are surrounding him. The movie may as well have been written about Michael Steele, who continues to tie himself in knots as part of his effort to reach out to moderates.

Steele already has been ridiculed by all sides of the political spectrum for blasting Rush Limbaugh on CNN only to apologize when he received blowback. But now, via Matt Lewis, I see he told GQ that he believes abortion is an individual choice. Here's the portion of the interview:

How much of your pro-life stance, for you, is informed not just by your Catholic faith but by the fact that you were adopted?

Oh, a lot. Absolutely. I see the power of life in that—I mean, and the power of choice! The thing to keep in mind about it… Uh, you know, I think as a country we get off on these misguided conversations that throw around terms that really misrepresent truth.

Explain that.
The choice issue cuts two ways. You can choose life, or you can choose abortion. You know, my mother chose life. So, you know, I think the power of the argument of choice boils down to stating a case for one or the other.

Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.

You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.

So basically, in an effort to seem more inclusive, Steele tried to appropriate the language of the left by saying life is a choice, but then he allowed himself to be backed into a corner in which he said that women have the right to choose abortion -- by definition, a pro-choice postion. Perhaps realizing what he had just said, Steele then tried to add nuance to his point:

Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
I think Roe v. Wade—as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.

Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?
The states should make that choice. That’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.

Do pro-choicers have a place in the Republican Party?
Absolutely!

So, after getting boxed in, he suddenly shifts from "individual choice" meaning "women have the right to choose an abortion" to it meaning that states have an "individual choice" about whether or not to permit women to exercise choice. Liz Mair, charitably, thinks that Steele was trying to express the pro-choice, anti-Roe, position but that he just was clumsy about it. Even if that were the case, however, it wouldn't be consistent with other recent statements he made on the subject.

In December, when he was under fire during the RNC race for being a member of Christine Todd Whitman's moderate Republican Leadership Council, he portrayed himself as emphatically pro-life to CBN's David Brody, barbing, "I was a monk for goodness sakes ok?" Appearing on Fox News Sunday after his election to serve as RNC chair, Steele declared, "I'm a pro-life Roman Catholic conservative, always have been."

In a debate moderated by Tim Russert during the 2006 U.S. Senate race in Maryland, Steele was all over the place on Roe. Check out the following exchange:

MR. RUSSERT: Would, would you encourage — would you hope the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade?

LT. GOV. STEELE: I think that that’s a matter that’s going to rightly belong to the courts to decide ultimately whether or not that, that issue should be addressed. The, the Court has taken a position, which I agree, stare decisis, which means that the law is as it is and, and so this is a matter that’s ultimately going to be adjudicated at the states. We’re seeing that. The states are beginning to decide for themselves on, on this and a host of other issues. And the Supreme Court would ultimately decide that.

MR. RUSSERT: But you hope that the Court keeps Roe v. Wade in place?

LT. GOV. STEELE: I think the Court will evaluate the law as society progresses, as the Court is supposed to do.

MR. RUSSERT: But what’s your position? Do you want them to sustain it or overturn it?

LT. GOV. STEELE: Well, I think, I think, I think Roe vs. Wade, Roe vs. Wade is a, is a matter that

should’ve been left to the states to decide, ultimately. But it, it is where it is today, and the courts will ultimately decide whether or not this, this gets addressed by the states, goes back to the states in some form or they overturn it outright.

MR. RUSSERT: Is is your desire to keep it in place?

LT. GOV. STEELE: My desire is that we follow what stare decisis is at this point, yes.

Huh?

The problem with Steele's defenders is that they like the idea of Steele -- i.e., the idea that Steele is going to reach out to moderates. But the reality of Steele is quite different. He is proving himself to be a shape shifter who is trying to please everybody, but in the end delivering a completely muddled message. Ultimately no pro-choice independent or Democrat is going to be more inclined to become a Republican as a result of that GQ interview, because Steele comes off like a bumbling clown who is trying to have it both ways. The mere fact that we have to have a whole debate over what he means demonstrates that he's doing a terrible job at communicating. And lest we forget, communication was supposed to be his strong suit.

View all comments (24) | Leave a comment

Booker| 3.12.09 @ 12:12AM

This guy is coming off as an idiot in interviews. Somehow I can't imagine his management skills are impressive either. The GOP can't seem to catch a break. He needs to go because conservatives are not going to have anything to do with a party chaired by a liberal in drag.

Admr. S.O.B. Buniontow VI| 3.12.09 @ 1:43AM

I got it. Smeele wants to get canned so he can host his own program on MSNBC.

F.L.U.S.H. T.H.I.S. T.U.R.D.!!

Beauregard| 3.12.09 @ 2:17AM

He's a freaking disaster. The RNC isn't getting a dime from me as long as this boob has any say in where the money is going. We have a liberal in charge of the RNC. I give up.

Steele's just a flash and jive huckster in over his head, and it's going to get worse and worse. Please, no more affirmative action in the GOP.

ruth| 3.12.09 @ 3:04AM

Try as I might, I just can't get the waves of nausea to stop. Talk about a leadership gap, we have a chasm. Next step is to blame everything on Limbaugh.

Marlena| 3.12.09 @ 4:56AM

We now have a GOP chair who has knocked the underpinnings out of the arguments for opposition to gay marriage and abortion--the bases of social conservative support for the GOP--and he's compared Rush to Al Franken. When does this Michael Steele's Amazing Traveling Minstrel Show stop? I hope soon, because there will be no GOP left is he is left in charge for the rest of the year.

Red Phillips| 3.12.09 @ 6:49AM

Steele ran as the moderate "inclusive" candidate. No one should be surprised by this. This is already a failed experiment. This clown needs to be fired.

John| 3.12.09 @ 7:55AM

Michael Steele is a good, decent man. He is caught between several rocks.. and a really hard place, and is showing that he is not quite up to the task of getting the actual job done.

The RNC Chairmanship is an "insider" job. Party national committees are stoked with those who paid handsomely in both time and especially money to get to where they are. They are professional pols and rarely represent anybody but their narrow interests. (Those being keeping big time political operatives employed and in nice homes.)

That being the case, the job of the chairman (When did a chairman become a "chair" anyway?) is to raise money for candidates, and arrange to do effective PR.

Steele obviously has arranged to do neither, and at the PR thing... well... he is stinking up the works.

I wasn't thrilled with any of the candidates for RNC Chairman. They were all flawed, failed pols from one level or another, of limited accomplishment, and limited skills. The best of the pack was Blackwell, and he was left in the dust of the insider slap fight.

So the compromise was Steele. Superficially attractive, supposedly articulate, and well connected to the Northeastern Money interests.

Well, the Northeastern Establishment Republicans keep losing elections, and dragging the Republican Party into their mushy valueless Democrat-lite/Me-Too world.

Maybe its time to allow those money interests to leave, instead of constantly tanking elections trying to placate their elite feelings.

The RNC elected a reflection of itself. Rethink time....

r/John

james23| 3.12.09 @ 9:28AM

Another cringe inducing moment for Mike Steele. A nice man, but a dope, I'm sorry to say.

blady| 3.12.09 @ 11:03AM

Burn, baby, burn

Steprock| 3.12.09 @ 11:06AM

Republicans lost the election for a number of reasons, one of them being that they did not appeal to their strongly conservative base.

This party has been given an opportunity to re-think itself and get in touch with its core values, not try to play the middle and see if we can reach out to left-wingers.

Behavior like Steele's is exactly why we are listening to a talk radio show host and a plumber instead of party leaders.

unfatmatt| 3.12.09 @ 11:40AM

I don't think it's an issue of "the GOP can't catch a break", but an issue of the GOP WILL NOT try to return to their roots for fear of looking like right-wing nutjobs. Why is it that the so-called right wing nutjobs like Tom Coburn and David Vitter are the only Republicans actually trying to get something done without abandoning the base?

samir| 3.12.09 @ 1:10PM

Steele is an Uncle Tom.

ruth| 3.12.09 @ 2:18PM

Nice. Go away, bigot.

CarlosM| 3.13.09 @ 4:31AM

I think we need to back away from the "affirmative action reject" criticism because that doesn't disparage Steele, it disparages us. To be fair, the guy was elected as a moderate who was supposed to be articulate. I honestly don't see how you could think he's articulate, but I certainly see the moderate part.

The guy will soon be radioactive, so he needs to go. The Republican Party needs to rethink (as many have said) what kind of message they want to send out -- nevermind that Steele couldn't deliver it even if had the right principles.

The GOP's experiment didn't work, but both sides failed here, so more has to be done than just dump Steele, who from what I know is indeed a decent man.

Neeeeeeeeeeext.

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