A few posts ago, I referred to Michael Steele backing away from the RLC in order to win the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. I was glad to hear that a couple of days ago, he spoke to the Chritian Broadcast Network and laid out why he joined Governor Whitman and the RLC. Best quote:

“This may be a unique opportunity to build a relationship or a bridge between the conservatives and the moderates in our party and so she asked me to serve on her board and I said well this will be good. It’ll be a pro-life conservative voice on a board with a pro-choice leadership that is looking to elect moderates. We have to elect moderates in the party.”

Yeah. That’s what we’ve been saying. We NEED to elect (I prefer to use the term) Progressive Republicans. It’s essential that we not be a one-dimensional Party. Colin Powell said something similar today:

“There is nothing wrong with being conservative. There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views — I don’t object to that. But if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority.”

We Progressive Republicans have long seen the reality of the situation. Let’s stand behind these brave folks who respect, and share our views and do everything we can to keep them in the leadership of our Party.

This letter was originally sent from the late State Representative Sherman Parker of Missouri to then-RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman in 2005. Perfectly addresses the current situation and presents a solution you’ve seen advocated on this very blog: recruiting candidates appropriate to the district.

Chairman Mehlman
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

Re: Talk is Cheap

Dear Chairman Mehlman:

You and President Bush are spending a considerable amount of time talking to African-Americans, coining phrases such as the “party of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.” What does that mean if your only goal is to marginally break off the African-American vote? It is embarrassing and you are doing the African-American community a disservice. You are not creating a political infrastructure that competes with the Democratic party. Packing the podium with minority faces at Republican events is meaningless from a black perspective. The African-American voter is more sophisticated than that. The Republicans’ only budgeted one to two million dollars to reach black voters, (less than the cost to produce one Super Bowl ad). The fact that there are no major black elected policy makers serving in any state capitol, the United States Senate or the House of Representatives, leaves African-Americans no alternatives to the Democrats.

Conventional wisdom would have us believe that African-Americans began their defection from the GOP for economic reasons during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s social-welfare programs of the New Deal, thus becoming a reliable component of the big-city Democrat machines. The African-American embrace of the Democratic Party became even more prevalent during the 1960’s; blacks voted overwhelmingly for Presidents’ John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. The black vote led to the sweeping civil rights programs, which transformed a nation.

While it is true in part, that Democrats were successful in the battle over African-American voters by presenting them a convincing message, that message may have never been received had it not been used in conjunction with the Democrat Party’s considerable effort to legitimize that message by electing African-Americans to office. Any electorate is naturally skeptical and distrusting of politicians and their promises. Given this, the objective of any candidate is to get the electorate to relate to the candidate on a personal level in order to gain their trust, and therefore trust their message. In electing African-Americans, Democrats gained messengers capable of relating to the communities that they were asked to persuade. Democrats drew majority African-American districts, raised money for African-American candidates, provided grassroots mechanisms, and advanced the stature of their African-American officials. Through the gain of African-American officials, these communities were also privy to the same political graft that was so prevalent in Democrat machine politics, which in turn, solidified support among their community leaders.

During the Great Depression, we saw the rise of African-American Democrats such as Adam Clayton Powell of New York and William Levi Dawson of Chicago in city halls and in Congress. Does anyone think Mayor Daley cared about African-Americans in Chicago? NO! Does anyone really think FDR cared about the problems African-Americans were facing in the South? If so, why didn’t President Roosevelt make one public statement or one speech pertaining to the disgraceful lynching of African Americans during his nearly four terms? The Democrats’ focus was to keep a safe majority for the Democratic Party and to stay in power. During this period, the Republican Party took the African-American community for granted, because they were the party of the great African-American emancipator, Abraham Lincoln.

The problems still rest with the Republicans. Republicans cannot ignore Black voters all year long and then create outreach programs with the goal of siphoning off 10% to 15% of the African-American vote. This approach does not empower African-American Republican leaders. It leaves African-American candidates out to dry with little or no financial resources or other serious commitments, usually after they were encouraged to run for office. Like other top-down efforts, the present African-American Advisory Council is destined to be a complete failure. This approach doesn’t build a grassroots organization needed to win future elections. It only leaves future Republican candidates, especially those with limited resources, thinking that it’s no use even trying to compete for the African-American vote, since past efforts leave little to show.

Electing African-Americans to legislative, statewide, and congressional office is the only way we are going expand the base of the Republican Party. The typical “outreach” approach does not work. No one listens to paid minority consultants or surrogates. Today’s status quo presents African-Americans and other minorities with the only choice of voting for African-Americans/minority

Democrats — many of which are elected officials with high profiles who live in and/or have personal support in the community . The last-minute, Republican outreach program of advertisements and non-elected surrogates will fail, as it always does.

We need to elect African-American Republicans to State Legislatures, Statewide Offices, Congress, and ultimately the White House.

This past weekend, the people of the Second Congressional District of Louisiana elected Anh “Joseph” Cao to replace disgraced Democrat William Jefferson as their representative in Congress. While his election is, of course, important because he is the first Vietnamese-American to sit in Congress, it is also indicative of the direction the Party should be taking into the future.

Integrity as one of our core issues:

Members of Congress, from both sides of the aisle, have fallen into corruption scandal after corruption scandal over the past few years. Democrats, for the most part, have tended to either stay silent about them, or in some cases even defended their corrupt members. From Mark Foley to Duke Cunnignham, Republicans, with few exceptions, have immediately called for the explusion of their corrupt members.

It should be the position of the Progressive Republicans that we can never have a truly just system; a system that gives everyone equal access to the opportunities of America without first electing representatives whose personal integrity is above reproach. We cannot have an elite in Washington thriving because they supplement their incomes with kickbacks and bribes from lobbyists and supporters, while everyday people across America have struggle to make end meet because they play by the rules. It’s our position that all Republican candidates should sign a n integrity pledge, affirming that they will not seek office if they have acted in a corrupt manner, and that they promptly be expelled if they do. The only way we can win is by proving that our candidates are better than the Democratic ones. A Pledge of Integrity enforced by the Party leaders, as well as Congressional leadership, would be a clear indicator that we are serious about integrity.

The Right Candidate for the Right Districts

The 2nd District of Louisiana is , according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, the third most Democratic District in Louisiana. Cao’s victory was not a sign that the people of that District had suddenly become more conservative. It was a sign that a Republican candidate who was more aligned with the values of his district could win in a District that was a Democratic stronghold. By Cao’s own admission he is a moderate. He even lauds the people of Louisiana as “Progressive!”

The only sure way to ensure our Party elects the right people for the right districts is to ensure that candidates for EVERY Congressional seat, House and Senate, are determined by open primaries, not by conventions or caucuses. Conventions and caucuses are always dominated by the Party activists, who, tend overwhelmingly to be part of the far right wing who have historically ignored Progressive candidates, even for races where the consituency leans in that direction.

We must demand our State Parties, as well as the RNC to adopt rules mandating that all nominations be awarded to the winners of open primaries. We will not last as a Party if we ignore the needs of a majority of our constituency in favor of minority ideology.

So, once again, congratulations to Representative-elect Anh “Joseph” Cao of the 2nd District of Lousiana! Progressive Republicans look forward to working with you!

Interested in using your design skills to further the Progressive Republican cause? Then try your hand at designing the Progressive Republican logo!

Some parameters to keep in mind:

* Patriotism
* The Future
* Forward Motion

The winner of the contest will not only see his/her work on everything published by the Progressive Republicans, but you will also receive a signed, first edition copy of General Colin Powell’s Autobiography, “My American Journey.”

Please e-mail all entries to travis@progressiverepublican.info no later than 5PM EST on Wednesday, December 10 2008.

Good luck!!

As you may or may not be aware, the race for the RNC Chairmanship is in full swing. The field of candidates is quickly getting crowded. The following men (no women so far) already announced their candidacy:

Current RNC chairman Mike Duncan

South Carolina party chairman Katon Dawson

Michigan chair Saul Anuzis

former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele

ex-Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman

former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell

Since it’s the Christmas season, I thought I’d ask you, the Progressive Republicans, what gifts you’d like the new charman, whoever he turns out to be (though this blog has its own preference), to grant us when he takes office. Use the comments section below to write out your list.

Keep it clean and keep it civil. I’d like to send deliver this list to the Chairman upon election (or reelection).