An open letter to Michael Steele

Dear Michael,

Keep quiet.  That's the best advice anyone could give you right now.

For someone who was presented to his party as a "great" communicator, you have developed one serious case of foot-in-mouth.  To make it even worse, your offending remarks have been aimed at the core of our party, in terms of both people and principles.

First, there was all this silly "hip hop" this and "baby" that.  OK, we get it.  You're trying to present a more "with it" image in your first few weeks.  That would have been fine for a while, but now it's getting old.

Then there was the Limbaugh thing.  Telling D.L. Huggy Bear (or whatever) that Rush was "incendiary" and "ugly"?  Michael.  Wake up.  If you for a moment even think such thoughts (which is bad enough and says a lot about you) you don't say it.  (That's the kind of thing Fritz Hollings used to do)

And now we have the GQ interview.  You believe in "individual choice" on abortion?  That it should be left up to states?  As a previous candidate for elected office I know you've attended a few pro-life events where the phrase "It's a child, not a choice" was used...  And haven't you ever read a copy of the Republican Party platform?  At all familiar with what's known as the "pro-life" plank?

You wanted to be Chairman of the RNC.  Now you are.  And with that job comes the demand that you have the common sense NOT to take shots at the base of the party, (given that one assumes you don't have some hidden army of volunteers and donors that you can replace the base with anytime soon).

It's time to put a sock in it.  Go back to your office.  Close the door.  Repeat out loud, "I'm Chairman of the REPUBLICAN Party...I'm Chairman of the REPUBLICAN Party...".  Do it a couple hundred times each morning before you start work.

In fact, it's time for you to cease and desist from interviews period for a while.  No TV.  No Radio.  No newspapers or magazines.  No blogs.  It's not as though you're the only person that can answer any questions that call for a Republican response.  Let the guys on the Hill do it.  Or better yet, a few governors.  I know someone in the communications shop has their contact info.

In case you haven't noticed, all of these issues have made the wrong people upset.  You see, when we elect a Chairman, if he "upsets" anyone, it's supposed to be liberals and/or Democrats.  Maybe even the occasional so-called "moderate Republican".

Again, stay away from the media.  You're not a contract guy for Fox anymore.  And, even though we're all Republicans out here, quite frankly we're getting tired of seeing you pop up everywhere.  At the rate you're going I almost expect to see you wrestling with Chuck Schumer to get in front of a camera - which is saying something.

Focus on the job.  We're in a minority situation, and you've got twenty-one months until the next election.  Even less to recruit top quality conservative candidates and raise money.  And even less than that to do what really needs doing - building the technological infrastructure this party needs to leverage the efforts and activities of its supporters into every state and county of this country.

You're not done for, despite the rumors.  But you're not exactly doing yourself any favors.

If you take this advice and focus like a laser beam on the fundamentals, you can be a hero.  If not, you'll be the goat.  It's in your hands.

Yours truly,

Drew McKissick, former RNC member