{"id":14719,"date":"2009-05-06T09:42:51","date_gmt":"2009-05-06T15:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=14719"},"modified":"2009-05-06T09:41:29","modified_gmt":"2009-05-06T15:41:29","slug":"partisan-hospitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/05\/06\/partisan-hospitality.html","title":{"rendered":"Partisan hospitality"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think this exemplifies some of the problems that the GOP has in dealing with moderates within their ranks versus the True Believers. Here’s GOP Chair Michael Steele talking last week talking with the press<\/a> after a meeting with Wisconsin party faithful.<\/p>\n

\n

“All you moderates out there, y’all come. I mean, that’s the message,” Steele said at a news conference. “The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front.<\/p>\n

“Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now, I’m very much into hospitality. I like the idea of a big table (as folks who have come to our house know).<\/p>\n

But when we <\/em>invite people over to sit at table, we always try to ask (if we don’t already know) if people have food allergies or aversions. We tailor the menu to accommodate their needs when we can. We allow them to bring over side dishes, salads, desserts. We try to make them feel welcome, to make them part of the household for their stay.<\/p>\n

We don’t say, “Hey, come on in from the cold — now eat this and like <\/em>it, or get out.”<\/p>\n

Further, this metaphor is even more telling. Steele is talking about treating moderates as guests<\/em>. Not, tellingly, as family<\/em>. They’re outsiders being invited in, not insiders being invited back. <\/p>\n

So, yeah, if strangers came into my house for a party and immediately started offering suggestions about changing the carpeting, repainting, rearranging the furniture, etc. I might be a bit put out. I’d treat them courteously, but it would seem, yes, a bit rude.<\/p>\n

But family and friends? They get to (and do) make such suggestions all the time. And, amazingly enough, we sometimes follow their advice<\/em>. <\/p>\n

It’s not just that we want a place where “people want to be,” but we want to have those people there with us.<\/p>\n

As long as the GOP treats moderates as strangers given to chair to fill, and who are expected only to sit quietly and nod and eat what’s put before them, they’re not going to be very successful at getting many people to respond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think this exemplifies some of the problems that the GOP has in dealing with moderates within their ranks versus the True Believers. Here’s GOP Chair Michael Steele talking last week talking with the press after a meeting with Wisconsin party faithful. “All you moderates out there, y’all come. I mean, that’s the message,” Steele … Continue reading “Partisan hospitality”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[38,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-drink","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18946,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/10\/16\/my-personal-political-conspiracy-theory-of-the-day.html","url_meta":{"origin":14719,"position":0},"title":"My personal political conspiracy theory of the day","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 16-Oct-10 12:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Steele is a buffoon.\u00a0 He throws off periodic gaffes of a volume to make even Joe Biden blush.\u00a0 He's had repeated scandals in the Republican National Commitee.\u00a0 And, not surprising, donations to the RNC have been way off this cycle, compared to donations to other conservative groups. Yet every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2010"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2010","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2010"},"img":{"alt_text":"Michael Steele","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/steele-flag.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14647,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/28\/specter-goes-democrat.html","url_meta":{"origin":14719,"position":1},"title":"Specter goes Democrat","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 28-Apr-09 1:02pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Holy crap. Specter To Switch Parties - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com\u00a0 Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday he would switch to the Democratic party, presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration\u2019s new\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10721,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/11\/10\/ideology_vs_consensus_vs.html","url_meta":{"origin":14719,"position":2},"title":"Ideology vs. Consensus vs. Competency vs. Corruption","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 10-Nov-06 8:07am","format":false,"excerpt":"The post-mortems abound ... It's fascinating watching the debate going on within the GOP about who \"lost\" the election. Everyone has their own axe to grind in this, and the...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2006"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2006","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2006"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14662,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/30\/unblogged-bits-for-thursday-30-april-2009.html","url_meta":{"origin":14719,"position":3},"title":"Unblogged Bits for Thursday, 30 April 2009","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 30-Apr-09 6:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Steele: Moderates Are Welcome In The GOP As Long As They Vote Like Right Wingers: Ryan Powers Rep. Markey Speaks on Hate Crimes Bill: Autumn Sandeen Who Controls The National Day of Prayer?: Kyle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney\/Pixar"","block_context":{"text":"Disney\/Pixar","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/disney"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9957,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/10\/06\/more_foley_follies.html","url_meta":{"origin":14719,"position":4},"title":"More Foley Follies","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 6-Oct-06 6:42am","format":false,"excerpt":"A history of Congressional sex scandals, esp. regarding the page program. 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