Who did MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell feature to respond to Michael Steele's Tuesday speech about the future of the Republican Party? Chris Shays, the liberal, former Republican congressman with a lifetime American Conservative Union score of 44, appeared on "Andrea Mitchell Reports" to critique the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
After Shays insisted that Dick Cheney shouldn't be deciding who is and isn't a solid member of the GOP, Mitchell complimented, "Chris Shays, a good Republican." Responding to the Steele speech, Mitchell pontificated, "No mention of Dick Cheney. No mention of Rush Limbaugh. Is he [Steele] trying to move the party to a broader party, one that would include you? You were the last standing moderate from the northeast."
Despite Shays' status as a "good Republican," Mitchell became combative when the former representative insisted that Obama's failure to work with Republicans means this is the "President's economy." "Is that fair," she queried.
After Shays replied in the affirmative, Mitchell retorted, "Well, he [Obama] owns it because, perhaps, not a single one of them [Republicans] voted for his plan." Regarding the general status of the party, Mitchell failed to consider the possibility that the problem wasn't with the Republican Party being too conservative, but with it not living up to conservative ideals.
A transcript of the May 19 segment, which aired at 1:36pm EDT, follows:
ANDREA MITCHELL: Let's go to Chris Shays, a former Republican congressman. Chris, you were defeated in the last round.
FMR. REP CHRIS SHAYS (R-Connecticut): Oh, don't say that.
MITCHELL: No, I say it to set up the fact of, when you listen to a speech like this, and he talked about Edmond Burke. He talked about William F. Buckley, about Ronald Reagan. He mentioned former President Bush, former President Bush. No mention of Dick Cheney. No mention of Rush Limbaugh. Is he trying to move the party to a broader party, one that would include you? You were the last standing moderate from the northeast.
SHAYS: He should be doing that and-
MITCHELL: Do you think he was in this speech?
SHAYS: I think he was. I mean, bottom line, Ronald Reagan never said who could be a Republican. But, we have talk show hosts who have never won elections who define very narrowly who's a Republican. The bottom line of any national party is, it has to give you the capability to represent your district. And if it doesn't allow you to represent your district, you get defeated. And that's what has happened all throughout the northeast and other parts of the country.
MITCHELL: Now, one of the most striking things about this speech by Michael Steele was that he was making this Barack Obama's economy. Here he is saying that the Republican Party is the party of fiscal conservatism, of small government, yet what Barack Obama inherited in terms of the economy was something that no one could have foreseen. No Obama administration transition official foresaw where we were going with the economy.
SHAYS: It becomes the President's economy.
MITCHELL: Is that fair?
SHAYS: It becomes his economy when he doesn't include Republicans. He invites people to the White House, he dialogues with them, but I'm told by all my colleagues in the House and the Senate that they don't have input. The moment he has input, then it will be ours collectively. But if he didn't allow input, he owns it.
MITCHELL: Well, he owns it because, perhaps, not a single one of them voted for his plan.
SHAYS: Yeah, but it was his plan. That's the whole point. If he's talking about reaching out, it means compromise.
MITCHELL: So, you mean by the virtue of having gone along with Nancy Pelosi's House caucus version of the stimulus package --
SHAYS: Totally shutting out Republicans, then they own it.
MITCHELL: Again, when we talks about the size of government, the 6.1 percent decline in GDP and all of the rest of the bad economic indicators, the unemployment numbers. These are indicators and figures that are developed over months, a six-month period. So, is it entirely fair to lay it at the feet of Barack Obama?
SHAYS: Is it entirely fair, no, but he's the Republican chairman and he's going to state a very strong case. The key will be, will he defeat Republicans who are being criticized by the talk show hosts and say, we need you? Newt Gingrich never said who couldn't be a Republican. Ronald Reagan said who couldn't be a Republican. They both tried to win you over by ideas.
MITCHELL: When we talk about ideas, what new idea did you hear in Michael Steele's speech about the Republican Party?
SHAYS: I didn't hear any new ideas. But that's the point. I mean, we need to be talking about ideas. We got off ideas when we started to go after President Clinton for impeachment. And then it began to be, we're going to be a majority for the next 25 years. Our ideas went out the window and it was get rid of Bill Clinton, impeach him. And that was sad. We got out of ideas when we started focusing on Terry Schiavo. I say, we, when the leadership did. I mean, Terry Schiavo, we took out of a state court and brought it into a federal court. Totally contrary to our ideas. President Bush got away immediately when he supported a huge farm bill that even President Clinton wouldn't support and he did the steel quotas. Those were huge mistakes in the past administration. So it would be good to get back to the ideas that got us elected in '94.
MITCHELL: And briefly on the whole question of whether Dick Cheney or Colin Powell are the Republicans that you would like to define the party?
SHAYS: Well, first off, I would never say that Colin Powell wasn't a good Republican. He's been a good Republican for a long time. He supported someone who wasn't a Republican. I understand Dick Cheney wanting to defend himself. And that part is fine, but he shouldn't be defining who's a good Republican and who isn't.
MITCHELL: Chris Shays, a good Republican.
SHAYS: We're all different. We've got to include a large enough umbrella.
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.




















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Hey Scott.. ya think that Andrea Mitchell
May 19, 2009 - 15:28 ET by Gary HallHey Scott.. ya think that Andrea Mitchell might be interested in having Harold Ford on to talk about this 'enhanced interrogation' issue, and that she'll call him "a good Democrat?" After all, he's reaching across party lines here.
From a Wa Post blog:
But wait. According to former Democratic representative Harold Ford, who now makes his living as a "centrist" pundit, maybe torture's not so bad. Here he is yesterday on MSBNC's Hardball:
How big is Andrea's umbrella?
(;~/ gary
If Chris Shays is a good Republican then
May 19, 2009 - 15:42 ET by JTPDick Cheney is a fantastic, outstanding Republican. Mitchell's measuring stick could use some recalibrating. Also, please point to some evidence of Colin Powell being a Republican other than serving for a few of them. I can't think of one.
"Live for yourself...there's no one else more worth living for.
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"- Rush--Anthem
What Annn-drea Mitchell
May 19, 2009 - 16:42 ET by motherbeltWhat Annn-drea Mitchell really meant to call Shays was an "even Republican."
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
AGAIN!!!
May 19, 2009 - 15:42 ET by DoktorFrankenFor the ninetieth time this past week the Left attempts to define what the Republicans should be - according to them. And they find yet another POS to help them in their 'Party Building' task.
This just points out what the Republican party SHOULD NOT be - a Leftist lapdog party. The Republicans would do well to embrace the complete opposite of the flailing Left. Yes, that means it should become what it was in the first place - Conservative.
We don't need no stinkin' MSNBC burned-out tart to define who a good Republican is. We DO need Dick Cheney giving his superlative advice as to what the GOP should be. If not CHeney then who?
If not CHeney then who?
May 19, 2009 - 16:27 ET by CoolShadesIf not CHeney then who? Ari Fleischer.
Whose economy is it?
May 19, 2009 - 15:45 ET by KC MulvilleIt's silly to tag entire economies onto any president. No individual, not even an office-holder, is really responsible when the whole system depends on the interactions of millions of people. So tagging an economy onto a president is just an intellectual shortcut that people use because no one can grasp the complexities of a huge, intricate system. It's like a baseball team that fires the manager when the team isn't hitting. Obviously, the manager isn't the one striking out, but "it's easier to fire one guy than 25" (which is pointless, once you think about it). If the president does absolutely nothing, the economy will either succeed or fail on its own.
However, if a president chooses to get involved, he's responsible for his involvement.
A nine-trillion-dollar meddling for the next ten years is, indeed, something that Obama is responsible for. If it wrecks the economy through inflation, it's his fault.
Inflation
May 19, 2009 - 16:10 ET by mandrakeActually, inflation is not necessarily a bad thing if you know what your doing. I made my retirement fund during the high inflation years of Carter. Three things..
1) Hold no debt. At some point the Fed will try to kill inflation with high interest rates..Have some money at hand because you could earn double digit interest..I did!
2) Invest in realestate..it's relatively cheap right now and they ain't making any more land.
3) GOLD! if inflation hits the roof, so will gold.
It could have been worse
May 19, 2009 - 16:01 ET by ChaitealoverCNN brought on Meghan McCain immediately after Steele's speech. I didn't stay to listen, airheads don't interest me.
Chai
“Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us” - Thomas Jefferson
You have to laugh
May 19, 2009 - 17:06 ET by jacktheripperThey (the MSM) pray to their God in Hell that we all turn into "Good Republican"s like this clown..."why can't they be more moderate", "why don't they move to the center", "Why is Rush and Dick Cheney so mean"!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Airhead Mitchell!
May 19, 2009 - 18:42 ET by blazermaniacBetween the two blond bimbos, if brains were dynamite, neither McCain or Mitchell could blow their noses!
Mr Republican
May 19, 2009 - 17:16 ET by JDWShays went out with more than $300M in campaign/legal debt.
MITCHELL: Tarnish the republicans further.
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
If this is what it means to be a good republican...
May 19, 2009 - 17:29 ET by katainkentI think I'll stick with being Independent.
___________________________________________
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past - George Orwell - 1984
The minute she began introducing
May 19, 2009 - 23:43 ET by Delsaa "Republican" I knew it wasn't a real Republican.
When she said Chris Shays, I almost got sick.
He may be a Republican but he is NOT a Conservative Republican and I turned it off right away.
She had a guest who would answer her hard interview exactly the way she wanted.
It was a left wing love fest.
No surprise.
Chris Shays with a 44 score from ACU is the type...
May 20, 2009 - 08:32 ET by jawebster1of Republican the Liberal Media runs to in order to criticize Republicans. Andrea Mitchell is a bitter old woman because even after she dyed her hair, Fox News still won't hire her. Andrea, look in the mirror! Jim Webster