A Teleconference with Michael Steele On The New GOP.Com Website

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A Teleconference with Michael Steele On The New GOP.Com Website

Written By : John Hawkins

What follows are my notes, not quotes from a teleconference with Michael Steele and Todd Herman from the RNC on their new webpage, GOP.com.

Opening statement

Michael Steele: Welcome to the new RNC platform! Users can blog, create and find events, join events, create videos. I think it’s going to be very exciting. This is a launching of a new era, a renaissance. It taps into creativity. This beta site is a chance for us to communicate directly with activists and others. It will allow social networking — it’s unprecedented in politics with all the things that will be happening with this website. We’re saving $500k with this website this year, too. There is a financial benefit and a political one. This is going to give people a chance to find out what works and what doesn’t. I was up at 3 AM surfing this website. Visitors can sign in with their Facebook credentials. I do want to hear critical thinking about this website. This is your tool. This is a grassroots tool.

Todd Hermann: Betas are about learning and we are definitely learning today. The purpose of the beta is for us to serve you.

Q&A

The site seems to be down. You said you wanted to let people know who we are. So who are we?

We are all sorts of people. I am tired of folks believing that we’re racist and Uncle Toms. I want to tell our story. This is one platform among many we can use to tell our story.

Is there going to be moderation or safeguards put in place?

Yes. We have a full cadre of community managers.

Will there be a goal of the website to attract non-political people?

That’s exactly one of the goals of the site.

(Question from me) I saw the website this morning and it looked good, but it is down right now? Why is that? Traffic?

We have a memory leak and we are being hit with an enormous amount of traffic. We are working on getting it back up and adding more resources.

Summary: The roll-out of the new website has been plagued by problems. They had a future leaders page that was blank. Administrator passwords were posted and the website has been up and down for hours, including while they were doing a teleconference promoting it. Quite understandably, that huge mess is what most people are focusing on.

However, because I spent a lot of time working at an ISP wholesaler, I’m a little more tolerant of sloppy roll-outs. Unfortunately, I’ve learned that it’s just something that can happen.

But, the good news is that once they get these technical difficulties fixed up, which shouldn’t take too long, they’re going to have about the best website of any political party on the planet.

The roll out? Honestly, it could have been significantly better. But, it’s still a VERY SLICK looking, technically advanced website, with a lot of functionality, and a lot of integration with social media. Over the long haul, it’s going to be a real plus for the Party.

gfchicago

Always the best laid plans of men and mice. I don't know how many rollouts of new or improved databases that I've been involved in over the last 25 years. Inevitably something always goes wrong. It's the nature of the beast. In the test environment everything looks hunky dory then when you rollout the production version something blows up.

So I feel their pain.
D-Vega

I think if they are going to promote Hispanic GOPers, it may be a good idea to have some Spanish on the site.

And Jackie Robinson was not a Republican.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

And Jackie Robinson was not a Republican.

Yes he was, D-Vega. He was national director for Nelson Rockefeller's Presidential campaign.
http://www.thepiratescove.us William_Teach

Hmm. The website has been on "Coming Soon!" status since the beginning of the year, and now they finally relaunch and it doesn't work right? Sheesh.
Jack Schite

Oh how terribly exciting.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

Shut up, Jack. Nobody cares what you think.
whats_up

Yes he was, D-Vega. He was national director for Nelson Rockefeller's Presidential campaign.

Posted by mightysamurai

2009-10-13 18:02:08

Sam,

Get your facts straight, he liked Rockefeller as a person, he was not a Republican, in fact this is what he had to say about the party in his autobiography:

"I was not as sold on the Republican party as I was on the governor," Robinson wrote of Rockefeller. "Every chance I got, while I was campaigning, I said plainly what I thought of the right-wing Republicans and the harm they were doing. I felt the GOP was a minority party in term of numbers of registered voters and could not win unless they updated their social philosophy and sponsored candidates and principles to attract the young, the black, and the independent voter. I said this often from public, and frequently Republican, platforms. By and large Republicans had ignored blacks and sometimes handpicked a few servile leaders in the black community to be their token "niggers." How would I sound trying to go all out to sell Republicans to black people? They're not buying. They know better."

"I admit freely that I think, live, and breathe black first and foremost. That is one of the reasons I was so committed to the governor and so opposed to Senator Barry Goldwater. Early in 1964 I wrote a Speaking Out piece for The Saturday Evening Post. A Barry Goldwater victory would insure that the GOP would be completely the white man's party. What happened at San Francisco when Senator Goldwater became the Republican standard-bearer confirmed my prediction."

"I wasn't altogether caught of guard by the victory of the reactionary forces in the Republican party, but I was appalled by the tactics they used to stifle their liberal opposition," Robinson wrote of that 1964 convention. "I was a special delegate to the convention through an arrangement made by the Rockefeller office. That convention was one of the most unforgettable and frightening experiences of my life. The hatred I saw was unique to me because it was hatred directed against a white man. It embodied a revulsion for all he stood for, including his enlightened attitude toward black people."

Also in 1968 Robinson campaigned for Hubert Humphrey, if anything Robinson was an indepedent
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

Get your facts straight, he liked Rockefeller as a person, he was not a Republican

*sigh*

Whats_up, you silly child. He was part of Rockefeller's Presidential campaign. He also served as special assistant for community affairs when Rockefeller was re-elected governor of New York. AND he supported Nixon in the 1960 election.

He was a Republican, Whats_up. Accept it and move on.
http://TheNixonTape.Com Dick_Nixon

Also in 1968 Robinson campaigned for Hubert Humphrey, if anything Robinson was an indepedent

Posted by whats_up

2009-10-13 20:54:53

Sure thing there Sparky.
whats_up

Posted by mightysamurai

2009-10-13 21:40:14

I will let Jackies own words stand on the issue Sam, anyone who has read on the subject knows how Mr. Robinson felt about the Republican party.
whats_up

Also in 1968 Robinson campaigned for Hubert Humphrey, if anything Robinson was an indepedent

Posted by whats_up

2009-10-13 20:54:53

Sure thing there Sparky.

Posted by Dick_Nixon

2009-10-13 22:19:28

Nixon, sometimes you are just dumb as shit:

http://www.jackierobinson.org/jackie/
http://TheNixonTape.Com Dick_Nixon

Posted by whats_up

2009-10-14 00:20:32

mmm, Nixon was agreeing with you.
http://TheNixonTape.Com Dick_Nixon

Also in 1968 Robinson campaigned for Hubert Humphrey,

Didn't Master Nixon F Humphrey up?
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

I will let Jackies own words stand on the issue Sam

I will let his party affiliation stand, Whats_up.

The man was a Republican. He may not have been an especially conservative one, but he was a Republican. And no amount of petulant whining from you will change that.
D-Vega

It's sad when you have to co-op someone who there was never any proof of party affiliation just to know illustrate that, yes, there was some diversity in the party, back in the 60's.

Just because you vote or support a Republican or Democrat doesn't mean you are a member of said party. There were "Reagan Democrats", there were "Bush Democrats". Jackie Robinson was no more Republican than Joe Lieberman is. He specifically said so.
whats_up

He specifically said so.

Posted by D-Vega

2009-10-14 12:10:54

Dont tell Sam that, he wont believe that Jackie said that, he still thinks that Robinson was a Republican, despite all the evidence to the contrary, despite Jackie plainly saying that he didnt belong to any party, but what is stretching the truth to a conservative!
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

It's sad when you have to co-op someone who there was never any proof of party affiliation just to know illustrate that, yes, there was some diversity in the party, back in the 60's.

Right. I mean, it's not like there's an entire list of black Republicans or anything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_Amer…

Oh wait…
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

Dont tell Sam that

Don't tell me what? Lies? Yes, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell those anymore.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

Just because you vote or support a Republican or Democrat doesn't mean you are a member of said party.

Maybe you have some kind of memory problem.

Jackie Robinson was a member of Nelson Rockefeller's Presidential campaign.
whats_up

Jackie Robinson was a member of Nelson Rockefeller's Presidential campaign.

Posted by mightysamurai

2009-10-14 13:44:23

He also campaigned on behalf of Hubert Humphrey, so I guess he really is a democrat right Sam?
whats_up

Jackie Robinson was a member of Nelson Rockefeller's Presidential campaign.

Posted by mightysamurai

2009-10-14 13:44:23

Evidently the memory problem is yours, as Jackie so elequently put it:

"I was not as sold on the Republican party as I was on the governor,"
D-Vega

Right. I mean, it's not like there's an entire list of black Republicans or anything.

Wow. You know if its on Wikipedia it must be true. Thanks for letting me know. I shall remember this for the future on this site.

Jackie Robinson was a member of Nelson Rockefeller's Presidential campaign.

So what? Joe Lieberman was a member of McCain's campaign. He would have been a VP nominee with McCain even. But he is not a Republican, never was a Republican.

What actual proof do you have that Robinson was indeed a Republican? None. It's the same with Martin Luther King. Every once in a while, the right makes broad claims about the party affiliation of certain famous Black Americans.

Its absurd to co-op people that can't be here to clarify, and ridiculous that Republicans even make it a point to list Black Americans as a show of diversity.

I mean, a Wikipedia entry on "Black Republicans"? That in itself is a joke.
D-Vega

Just as a side-note as well, that Wiki entry also labels Stanley Crouch as a Republican.

Stanley Crouch is not a Republican as far as I know. I've read his columns for years and in the Bush era, he has written lots & lots of critiques of Republican covert racism in politics.

But don't worry. You can't claim Robinson, MLK or Crouch, but you still have Pearl Bailey and Yaphet Kotto.
http://www.conservablogs.com/theconservativecrawfish/ reelman

OBAMA’S PRINTING PRESS MADNESS

October 14.2009…

“President Obama is calling on Congress to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The White House put the cost at $13 billion.”

CRAWFISH NOTE: This is more democrat (aka secular socialist) fiscal insanity. America is already at least 9 trillion in debt. America is broke. We have 10% unemployment.

The socialist Party is pushing a HC Bill costing $800 billion plus. America is already at least 9 trillion in debt. America is broke. We have 10% unemployment.

The socialist Party has dozens of taxes in the works to reduce your paycheck and raise your cost of living. America is already at least 9 trillion in debt. America is broke. We have 10% unemployment.

The socialist Party will let all the Bush tax cuts expire after next year. America is already at least 9 trillion in debt. America is broke. We have 10% unemployment.

The secular socialist Party has had ALL the power for over 9 months and…and…and? America is already at least 9 trillion in debt. America is broke. We have 10% unemployment. Thanks a pant load. Not to worry, the minion media will change democrat diapers 24-7.

Unicorns and liberal rainbow dust everywhere.

Is it any wonder all early voting polls indicate the socialist Party is going down hard?

J. Carter Obama rules all!

http://conservablogs.com/theconservativecrawfish
http://redinktexas.blogspot.com Rorschach

reelman, he's just trying to buy off all the old people he plans on killing off when the final, I mean public, option is put back into the bill in the dead of night in a friday night/saturday morning conference committee.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

He also campaigned on behalf of Hubert Humphrey

Well as your pal D-Vega rightly points out, that means nothing at all. People can, in fact, support candidates opposite their normal political leanings if they choose. Black people are not, in fact, contractually bound to vote for whomever you tell them to.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

Wow. You know if its on Wikipedia it must be true.

Well yeah, it IS true in this case. All of those people are registered Republican politicians. Their political affiliation is a matter of public record.

Honestly D-Vega, I know Wikipedia isn't always the most reliable of sources, but this is just pathetic.

Joe Lieberman was a member of McCain's campaign.

No he wasn't, D-Vega. He publicly endorsed John McCain in 2008. And as YOU YOURSELF point out, that means nothing. Anyone can endorse any politician they choose, regardless of party affiliation.

Really D-Vega, this is becoming quite sad. You just can't bear to acknowledge the fact that *gasp* not all black people mindlessly shill for the Democratic Party.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

Its absurd to co-op people that can't be here to clarify, and ridiculous that Republicans even make it a point to list Black Americans as a show of diversity.

Yeah, because Democrats never cite black support as a show of "diversity", right?

Gawd you're pathetic.