Steelman: GOP establishment a "cabal of officials, lobbyists, consultants and advisers"

The Roy Blunt and Sarah Steelman camps have been pretty quiet the last few days, ceding the dysfunction coverage to the state House and Senate.

Despite their relative silence, I think it's pretty safe to assume that Team Roy and Team Sarah are still out there, still hating each other.  Check out this latest shot from David Steelman, husband of the almost-announced Sarah. See if you can count the number of times he refers to Roy Blunt without actually saying his name:

Senator Arlen Specter’s recent defection from the Republicans has intensified the already raucous call for change within the Party.  Some say the Party must become more centrist; others claim it must become more conservative.  There are voices of joy at the elimination of the moderate “RINOs” and others bemoaning the ascendancy of right wing extremists.  There is even a “listening tour” with the Party’s handpicked elite. But, regardless of the message, the overarching goal of the messengers is the same; they will say whatever it takes to keep the same folks who drove the car into the ditch behind the wheel...

Identifying past problems is easy.  Change will be difficult. Under the leadership of former House Majority Leader Tom Delay and his lieutenants, the K Street project merged an army of interest groups and lobbyists with Congressional Republicans. While the merged entity has been more involved in the business of politics than with governing, losing the confidence of the American people, the political power of this monstrosity is daunting.   In Missouri, the Republican “establishment,” a cabal of officials, lobbyists, consultants and advisers, has since 2000 prevented the nomination of any Republican for Governor or U.S. Senate who was not a member of Congress, a former member, or the son of a member.

He goes on, and calls for the Republican Party to return to its glory as "a party of broad ideas and principles." By this, I think he means doubling down on social wedge issues to win elections, while still fighting for the rich and wealthy elite.  But we'll have plenty of time to hear the full Steelman plan, I suppose.

Steelman's article is in The Missouri Record, a new online magazine from old friend Patrick Tuohey.