Michael Steele has an interesting (and mostly bad) verbal habit of trying to defuse a situation by making bizarre and damaging statements: When someone vigorously insults him and the Republican Party, he agrees with the accusations, then tries to talk about what people can do together to fix the problems. And people remember the former rather than the latter. For example, he just said that Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the party’s likely nominee for Senate in a top-tier 2010 Senate race, is like a clog in a toilet that needs to be cleaned out: “When stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out.”
As first reported by FiredUpMissouri.com, Steele appeared this past Friday on the radio show of right-wing Missouri talker Vincent David Jericho, who had a lot to say about Roy Blunt and his son, former Gov. Matt Blunt:
“His [Matt Blunt’s] daddy [Roy] screwed around with a tobacco lobbyist. Then slips language into the homeland security bill favorable to the tobacco lobbyist,” said Jericho. “I mean here is a guy that has committed adultery multiple times. Yet he had a senior position, and still does, in the Republican Party. Guys like Papa Blunt make us sick to our stomach. They aren’t conservatives, and they sure don’t reflect moral absolutes the way that we expect the Republican Party to stand up.”
Steele responded: “Look, now don’t, don’t sit – I mean, I agree with you. When, when, — when stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out.”
Steele then went on to talk about how conservatives can come together to revive the Republican Party — but at no point did he seek to rebut these serious attacks on the morals of his party’s Senate candidate and former House whip.
In the wake of this, former Blunt aide and major Washington lobbyist Gregg Hartley is taking on Steele. Hartley initially Twittered: “RNC Chair Michael Steele is an idiot. Past time for him to go. Party suffers every day he remains. I will contribute to the effort to oust.”
And Hartley followed it up with this: “RNC Chair Michael Steele should be preparing an apology to Congressman Blunt and submit his resignation.”
