Democratic National Committee national press secretary Hari Sevugan released this statement responding to Michael Steele’s speech declaring the GOP will not be looking backward:
“While we welcome Chairman Steele’s words that the GOP wants to turn the page on its past, we are disheartened by the party’s actions that tell the opposite story. While the Chairman talks of moving forward, the very convention he’s addressing will not focus on coming up with new ideas to create jobs and setting right what the party got wrong over the last eight years, but instead will revolve around name calling and the petty politics of the past. While the Chairman speaks of no longer looking in the rearview mirror, just this weekend he and other party leaders stumbled over one another to endorse the leadership of one of the most divisive figures in recent American history, Dick Cheney. The test of the sincerity of the Chairman’s words will be if he and the other GOP leaders stand up to the fringe elements of their party and whether they tell the polarizing faces of the past – including Cheney, Gingrich and Limbaugh – to stand aside. Unfortunately, they have shown no willingness to do so, which is why fewer and fewer Americans have confidence in the Republican party to lead during these tough times.”
Late Update: Speak of the Devil, Newt Gingrich is now joining the GOP’s rebranding effort, the National Council for a New America.
