No stopping this Steele at PFW Omnibus lecture

Addressing audiences big and small in multiple locations, former Republican National Committee chair and frequent MSNBC contributor Michael Steele talked nearly uninterrupted for five hours Monday at Purdue University Fort Wayne, but his message was essentially short and sweet.

“Our generation has totally screwed this up,” Steele said as he kicked off the 2022–23 Omnibus Speaker Series at Rhinehart Music Center. “What’s the future going to be like for your kids? That’s what this struggle is about.”

After meeting with PFW Honors Program students in the afternoon, Steele spoke for 90 minutes on “The Politics According to Steele” in the Auer Performance Hall. He was loquacious, humorous, and often blunt, criticizing the state of the political system and both parties.

He quoted from or mentioned the writings of American historical figures such as George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and Martin Luther King Jr., to make his points.

Everything he talked about pointed toward the mid-term elections two weeks from today.

“Whatever happens starting in January of next year is on you, every last one of you, especially if you didn’t vote,” Steele said. “The landscape right now is volatile. It’s a fairly large segment of undecided voters out there, still trying to sort it out in some of these races, and they could make a difference.

“My point to you in giving you this lay of the land is to help you appreciate how dynamic this campaign season is and why for God’s sake you have to get off your butt and do something about it if you don’t like the way things are going.”

Steele was even more direct during the afternoon talking to students, telling them that “We the people” in the United States Constitution means that the only people who can hold politicians accountable are citizens who vote. Voters are more important than the people we elect.

“Sometimes the moment calls for a little bit bigger from you,” he told the students. “How important is democracy to you? How does that translate when it’s time to vote? That question is going to drive the next two or three election cycles.

“These times that we’re in right now beg us as citizens to pay attention. You’re connected to this whole thing in a way the founders wanted you to be connected. We can change this, you will change this if you decide to.”

Steele said the political parties only fear one thing, the power citizens have to vote. Neither party wants every eligible citizen to vote, Steele said, they want their voters’ selections to count. If everyone votes, the outcome is too unpredictable for either party to control.

When questioned about how to make change happen, Steele suggested that big movement starts small in the local and state elections. Dramatic adjustments have to start on the entry levels and work their way up through the political system, and that takes more citizens focusing on races earlier rather than competitions that gain the most attention on the national level.

“The individuals who go to the state house, we send them, so why do we let them get away from not doing their job, with changing laws that take power away from the people?” Steele asked. “Why do we do that? Why do we step back from the election process once we cast the vote? That’s when you lean in because you have to watch these SOBs. You just do. They are an extension of us.”

Though he disagrees with much going on within the Republican party, Steele said he’s not changing his affiliation, though he has considered becoming an independent. Part of that thinking, he said, is he’s been part of the party forever, and he’s not going to allow the current leaders to drive him away.

Steele posited that recent elections have not been so much about what policies Americans believe in as much as they’ve become about what they are angry about. Politicians understand the anger and move to manipulate it, Steele said, criticizing the constant drone of social media that keeps the anger simmering.

“We have allowed our anger and frustrations to be exploited to the point that we no longer recognize the face of this country,” Steele said.

Later he said, “We still find a way to make this thing work and hold together. It’s not about our greatness, it’s about how blessed we are to be in this land, on this land together. Because we all didn’t get here the same way, but we’re all here now. And we the people have to make the most of this moment right now because this is where each generation is tested and has been tested.”

Steele earned a standing ovation from the crowd of around 600. The sense was he could have continued entertaining and exhorting for another two hours, except he had an early plane to catch.

“We have some work to do because otherwise, this does not end well for any of us,” he finished.