Change you CAN'T believe in

Why did the Republicans elect the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee at this time in history?  Clearly, they're looking for an identity makeover after the trouncing they received at the polls in 2008, but the decision to elect Michael Steele strikes me as being quite predictable, if for nothing else, its intention to appear unpredictable.  Think back to the campaign season of 2008.  Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama are battling it out for the Democratic nomination in a historic battle that saw Obama eventually defeat Clinton and her vocal supporters.  To feed on the bizarre anti-Obama sentiments of Clinton's backers in the early going, the Republicans tapped not a well-known or established politician, but Sarah Palin of Alaska.  Ya betcha!  This move was supposed to catch everyone by surprise and make it so that the female supporters of Clinton would vote based not on issues but gender.  They misunderstood that Hilary Clinton is not just a female politician, but a skilled one that stands ostensibly for workers and health care and a slew of other issues that Palin wouldn't be caught dead supporting.  Predictably the Clinton supporters came home eventually to overwhelmingly support the more-ideologically similar Obama.  The Republicans chose a poor substitute for Clinton, one based on the most superficial of factors - her gender.  They could not bother themselves to see beyond this simple aspect of her being and paid the price for it.  

To prove that those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it, that was not the first time the Republicans had based major decisions simply on physical appearances.  Back when Obama was running for the US Senate, the Republican machine plugged Alan Keyes in to challenge him. Keyes had run for President several times and was a well-established, but highly unpopular, figure in Republican circles.  His selection would've been cause for eyebrows to be raised no matter where he was chosen as the Republican nominee.  It brought a particular bit of interest to Illinois all those years ago, however, because Alan Keyes was something that made his running against Obama national news - he was African-American.  The Republicans had seen Obama and looked past all the qualities that have endeared him to the American public at a 69% approval rating.  They missed his charm, charisma, ability to communicate, world experiences, unifying message, and instead focused all their narrow energies on his black skin.  The result was an embarrassing landslide victory by Obama.  Lessons not learned will continue to plague those who do not learn them.

The election of Barack Obama proved that people crave a message of hope.  He ended up carrying this all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  Unfortunately for the Republicans, hope is replaced with cynicism almost without exception.  As soon as the press had reported Obama's presidential victory, Republicans were busy trying to find their own Obama.  The names suggested proved that they were still missing the boat on who this man really is.  Bobby Jindal, the far-right Governor of Louisiana, was mentioned as one possible answer.  That Jindal is a fierce opponent of gun-control, abortion rights, and basically anything else that made Obama so appealing to a country tired of right-wing policies seems to have once more eluded the Republican Party.  Rather, all they saw was a man of color (Jindal is Indian-American) who is tall, thin, handsome, and well-spoken.  This is all they see as Obama's positive traits.  This is all they focus on.  Ignored is the fact that Obama united pockets of this country that had long been told that they were as different from one another as they are from the Chinese.  So-called Red and Blue states forgot all the pundit-fueled junk and voted according to their own minds, united by a message of hope, peace, and equality.  Jindal will find a hell of a time trying to do the same with his old and tired message of guns, forced births, and draconian immigration policies.

Undeterred, the Republicans yesterday decided to elect Michael Steele as head of the RNC.  I will not knock Steele's credentials.  Certainly, his long career in government qualifies him for the job of Chairman - and underestimating him is to the detriment of the Democratic Party.  What I find most peculiar about this selection is the incredibly clear message it is sending from the party of Palin, Jindal, and Keyes: we, too, can be for change - and with a black leader all our own!  Once more, the Republican party has chosen to be reactive rather than proactive and ignored all that makes Obama a revered leader even before his first fifteen days in office are up.  It's not just that President Obama is black, or young, or handsome, or a great speaker.  It's not his family, or his experiences, or the way he carries himself - it's all these things and more.  But to the party that thought Sarah Palin could be a good replacement for Hilary Clinton or that any politician of color regardless of message or stance could substitute for Obama, all this historical president is is a black man who inspired change - somehow.  How shallow a view can one have of Barack Obama?  Good luck in 2012!