Shep Smith To Michael Steele: ‘Have You Focused More On Yourself Than The GOP?’

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by Colby Hall | 5:19 pm, November 1st, 2010

» 12 comments

There has been no shortage of drama and intrigue surrounding tomorrow’s midterm elections, but in the face of what’s expected to be a significant night for the GOP is the battle over the soul of the Republican party: Tea Party vs. Establishment or “old school” vs. new. This, then, was the subtext of a recent interview with GOP Party leader Michael Steele conducted by Shepard Smith, who pulled absolutely no punches in asking some very tough questions with the at-times maligned leader of the GOP, culminating in “have you been focusing more on yourself than on the GOP?”

After setting the stage with a rather banal back and forth over the Tea Party vs. the GOP establishment, Smith went for it, asking of Mr. Steele, “you have been criticized for going off to the islands and trying to raise money for yourself and not focusing on the bigger picture.” After Steele replied with his reason for going off to the islands — “going to visit members of our party who are engaged in important elections whether Hawaii where we elected someone or in Guam” — Smith went with the body blows, asking “will you run again.” A surprised Steele could only laugh, though he defended himself well as the discussion turned towards Karl Rove‘s group Crossroads and the National Republican Committee of which Mr. Steele is chairman.

Its a fascinating clip that both seems to set-up Mr. Rove as a candidate to be the next chairman of the NRC (not that he may even want that gig), and serves as another reminder that Shep Smith sets himself apart from his peers when it comes to asking smart, tough questions, and making entertaining (and non-pandering) television.

GOP Civil War, Michael Steele, Midterm Election, Republican Party, shepard smith, Tea Party

notsofast

Yeah, and Steele blasted Shep pretty well.
cd ohio

i think shep is pretty fair, gotcha questions, devil advocate questions, to both sides
Michele

Frankly I think if the GOP has the successes that have been offered by a variety of talking heads, many will forget of Steeles frailties and see him as part of the wins in the House and Senate.

Shep sometimes can be rather clever, laughing as he sticks the knife in.

Excellent article, Mr. Hall.

Just my 2 cents from the heartland, Ft Leavenworth, KS.
Corrupt Bastard

Ugh Sarah Palin’s voice, when she gives speeches she yells the entire time and her voice is about 3 octaves higher than her normal speaking voice. What a shrill woman she is. I actually feel bad for women because she makes them look so fucking bad. Angry shrill women in politics never do very well.
tws258

Corrupt Bastard said:
Ugh Sarah Palin’s voice, when she gives speeches she yells the entire time and her voice is about 3 octaves higher than her normal speaking voice. What a shrill woman she is. I actually feel bad for women because she makes them look so fucking bad. Angry shrill women in politics never do very well.

Colby Hall thanks you for having read his article . Dope.
BowenIsland

Corrupt Bastard said:
Ugh Sarah Palin’s voice, when she gives speeches she yells the entire time and her voice is about 3 octaves higher than her normal speaking voice. What a shrill woman she is. I actually feel bad for women because she makes them look so fucking bad. Angry shrill women in politics never do very well.

Join Corrupt Bastard tomorrow as he copy and pastes another comment on the wrong article.
http://Race4Congress.com Magister

Steele is obviously confused.

Granted, I’m not a Republican, so maybe they’ve changed their game. But, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee should be the definition of “establishment’ and not the leader of a “grassroots organization” built in $47 increments. Perhaps because he’s misunderstood his role so completely, it’s why he feels like an outsider and it’s why Rove is going to eat him for lunch.

Of course as a Democrat, I can’t hardly wait. What with Rove pulling from one side and Palin pulling from the other, the Grand Old Party is going to apart at the seams.
http://Race4Congress.com Magister

PS) Because this is a media site, Shep did a good job in the clip.
Ted.

Corrupt Bastard said:
Ugh Sarah Palin’s voice, when she gives speeches she yells the entire time and her voice is about 3 octaves higher than her normal speaking voice. What a shrill woman she is. I actually feel bad for women because she makes them look so fucking bad. Angry shrill women in politics never do very well.

What a brain stem
http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

Magister said:
Of course as a Democrat, I can’t hardly wait. What with Rove pulling from one side and Palin pulling from the other, the Grand Old Party is going to apart at the seams.

You’re right on this. By Thursday, the Republican party is going to be at war with itself. I don’t know how it will turn out. I just know that if I have choose between President Obama and President Palin in 2012, I’m going to write-in Chris Christie.
Morgan

Not a very good interview by Shep. He’s not the sharpest guy at Fox. I wish CNN would steal him.

I like Steele and I thought he was very responsive in his answers; but there was no continuity in Shep’s questions, as he was more focused on setting traps. If Steele was surprised, it was that Shep’s questions were not the logical followups that would be expected.

The bottom line is that if the RNC has a good election, Steele has to share in the credit. You can’t just say that Obama has screwed up the Democrats so badly that anyone could have done better job. If you want to argue that, you might be able to make a good case.
http://Race4Congress.com Magister

Morgan said:
The bottom line is that if the RNC has a good election, Steele has to share in the credit.

Yeah. He raised enough to buy a house in Houston. You have to give him that.