Man of Steele

Michael Steele, newly elected RNC chairman, is eloquent enough. But with all the revamping left to do in his party, will he be the man for the job? Well, he can certainly go back to next years "State of the Black Union" with proof that he "took ownership of the diner." And we all know how a much good power washing and an "Under New Management" sign can stir up some much needed business. The hard part is keeping the new customers. Ok, enough with the diner analogy. What's the real plan? Steele says putting a Republican in New York's 20th Congressional District (formerly Gillibrand's seat), in governorships in New Jersey and Virginia along with reapportionment will be the key to getting the GOP up and running again. Maybe Steele will re-energize the party, but if I recall correctly, the same was said about another governor of a different U.S. coastline - one you could see Russia from.

Click here for NPR clip

Oh, the controversy. I can just imagine Pres. Obama sitting up at night thinking "what the hell is wrong with these people?!" Part of the drama is in the nominations themselves (i.e. the political move to pluck a Republican out of the Senate which triggers the possibility of simultaneously scoring a democratic supermajority), but it seems like every other cabinet nominee has some skeletons in their closet which aren't too hard for the opposing parties to dig out. To name a few:

Clinton (Secy. of State) : discrepancies with her husbands charity and its contributors. A conflict of interest question was raised here.
Geithner (Secy. of Treasury) : failure to pay more than $34,000 in back taxes...statutes of limitations kept him from legally having to pay more
Daschle (Secy.- designate of Health and Human Services) : Another tax mishap. This time more than $100,000 worth (see above NPR and CBS clips)
Richardson (former candidate for Secy. of Commerce) : Withdrew his nomination as he was being investigated for possibly exchanging expensive favors for lucrative contracts in New Mexico.