Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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New GOP Website is a Hot Mess
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Posted by:
Meredith Jessup at
12:00 PM
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As Jillian subtly points out, GOP chairman Michael Steele is not 13-years-old and, therefore, should not have a blog entitled "What Up?"
But along with the chairman's new blog, a new GOP site has been unveiled as the party attempts to re-brand itself. "Something is happening at GOP.com," booms the voice of Steele as the page loads. No joke: a digital Michael Steele struts across the computer monitor to explain the new website and how "that something new -- is you!" Sure this tiny Michael Steele and cheesy line is enough to make you roll your eyes, but it gets worse. Much worse.
In fact, it gets downright embarrassing.
Playing into all the medias' favorite stereotype, the RNC seems so desperate to avoid being labeled the party of "old, white men." After sitting and clicking for a while, it becomes embarrassingly apparent how the RNC is seemingly desperate for female and minority voters. Instead of showing pictures of all different kinds of people, the RNC has singled-out these people and, more specifically, their votes--a petty political maneuver and one of many reasons disillusioned Republicans are so fed up with the party in the first place.
“It’s the new GOP.com. It’s a forward-looking, open-platform for the party of new ideas. If you’re a Republican activist, this is your space,” Steele's digital likeness says. As a conservative with traditional conservative values, it's clear the Republican institution did not learn any of the lessons from the last election and/or the rise of the modern-day tea party movement. People aren't showing up at town hall meetings of Democrats AND Republicans because they are looking for "new ideas"--they just want the "conservative party" to remember its conservative roots and shape new ideas today in the mold of our traditional values handed down to us by previous generations of Americans.
The "Republican Heroes" page includes seven African Americans, one Hispanic-American, four women and four white men. I'm not exactly sure how baseball hall-of-famer Jackie Robinson is a Republican hero, or even if he was a Republican, but I think it's disgraceful the GOP can't come up with a list of AMERICANS who have shaped the party and the country; a list of people who succeeded in moving the country forward while holding onto tradition.
It's absurd that the list of "heroes" at GOP.com does not include even a single one of our nation's Founding Fathers.
Hey GOP, how about a new site that features some history? The "What We Believe" page doesn't even include the word "constitution"--not ONCE.
I've got news for you RNC: the Republican "activists" you're trying to draw to this new site are MUCH more concerned with preserving the U.S. constitution than preserving the Republican Party.
Based on this new Web site, the Republican party seems to be content in leaving its roots (and base) behind in its ongoing fight with Democrats to win elections, not make the country better--and that the most important thing on the party's mind nowadays is maintaining pages on Facebook and Twitter.
One thing I can agree with Steele on is that the "future of the Republican Party is you." It's up to all of us to maintain the GOP's traditional integrity because it seems these traditional values are not currently a priority for the party's leadership.
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