Steele On Bipartisanship: Can We Have A Rodney King Moment?

RNC Chairman Michael Steele
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Appearing on Fox this morning to talk health care reform, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele offered two contradictory — and somewhat baffling — metaphors for bipartisanship.

“I’m not trying to be an obstructionist here. To the contrary, I’m saying, Can we all get in the room and have a Rodney King moment?” he said. He was referring to King’s famous “Can we all get along?” line following the 1992 Los Angeles race riots sparked by the acquittal of the police officers who beat King.

Later in the interview, Steele said he is indeed obstructing health care reform, calling himself the “cow on the tracks.” The Fox anchor had noted that Democrats are saying the health care reform train has “already left the station” and “Republicans better jump on board.”

“Well, I’m the cow on the tracks. You’re gonna have to stop that train to get this cow off the track to move forward,” Steele said. “They told us in June that there would be a health care bill on the president’s desk on Aug. 1. I think our efforts helped change that dynamic, and our efforts this fall will continue to change that dynamic.”

Video after the jump.

And when Steele elaborated on the “Rodney King moment,” he said he wanted everyone to “work toward something that reflects the common sense, bottom-up approach that the voters, and certainly the insurers of our country, you, me and others, want to be done.”

Late update: A few minutes after this appearance, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) made the train analogy on CNN. In Cow v. Train, who will win? Watch:

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