Steelers Win!

No, I'm not referring to the football team from Pittsburgh. Their big contest is Sunday, remember?

Instead, I refer to the supporters of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who succeded in ousting the sitting Republican National Committee chairman and replacing him with their guy.

Let's face it. The GOP needs to tend so some serious wounds after the drubbing we've taken in the last two election cycles.

Hopefully, Steele will realize we need to purge the party of McCainism--the appeasement of Democrats and their constituents instead of appealing to and rallying the Republican base. Maverick, schmaverick. We need to get back to the principles that made the party great: lower taxes, smaller government, more personal responsibility, and dogged defense of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Let the ObamaNation stand for hand-outs, bail-outs, and cop-outs. We need to be a strong and clear voice of opposition, not their lapdogs and handmaidens.

Apple core! Baltimore! Who's your friend?!

Did you ever play that game as a child?

Anyway, if you were playing it in Baltimore tonight, the answer would NOT be Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, or Fred Thompson.

Each of those supposed "top tier" candidates failed to appear at the PBS broadcast of debates hosted by Tavis Smiley in the Murphy Fine Arts Center at Morgan State University--an historically black school.

And, with justification, many in the black community are taking offense. As former Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele told his fellow Marylanders in the introduction, it has been far too long that the GOP and African Americans have "stood at arm's length." The divide needs to end. But, that's not going to happen if we follow the lead of the "top tier" guys.

I will point out that Mike Huckabee was in Baltimore to participate in the debate and addressed important issues to minority voters like unemployment, criminal justice, and health care.

Remember, he's the same guy who has spoken to groups as divergent as union conventioneers and values voters right here in the great State of Florida.

That's what we need to see MORE of in our "top tier" candidates: uniters, not dividers.

I hope I'm not alone in my disgust with the status quo. I yearn for the election of a president next year who is unafraid of speaking to ALL Americans--not just those whose special interests have traditionally supported his/her party with cash or votes.

So far, in my opinion, only Mike Huckabee fills that bill.