Michael Steele becomes first black RNC chairman

[Greed]

Michael Steele becomes first black RNC chairman
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 32 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president. The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."

Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican Party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November's national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress put Barack Obama in the White House.

GOP delegates erupted in cheers and applause when his victory was announced, but it took six ballots to get there. He'll serve a two-year term.

Steele, an attorney, is a conservative, but he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running.

He was also considered an outsider because he's not a member of the Republican National Committee. But the 168-member RNC clearly signaled it wanted a change after eight years of Bush largely dictating its every move as the party's standard-bearer.

Steele became the first black candidate elected to statewide office in Maryland in 2002, and he made an unsuccessful Senate run in 2006. The former chairman of the Maryland Republican Party currently serves as chairman of GOPAC, an organization that recruits and trains Republican political candidates, and in that role he has been a frequent presence on the talk show circuit.

He vowed to expand the reach of the party by competing for every group, everywhere.

"We're going to say to friend and foe alike: 'We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us.' And for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over," Steele said.

"There is not one inch of ground that we're going to cede to anybody," he added.

"This is the dawn of a new party moving in a new direction with strength and conviction."

His job is to spark a revival for the GOP as it takes on an empowered Democratic Party under the country's first black president in the next midterm elections and beyond.

He replaces Mike Duncan, who abandoned his re-election bid in the face of dwindling support midway through Friday's voting.

Two others who trailed farther back in the voting eventually followed suit, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis.

In the sixth and final round of voting, Steele went head-to-head with his only remaining opponent, South Carolina GOP chief Katon Dawson. Steele clinched the election with 91 votes; a majority of 85 committee members was needed.

Just eight years after Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress, the GOP finds itself out of power, without a standard-bearer and trying to figure out how to rebound while its foe seems to grow ever stronger.

The Democratic Party boasts a broadened coalition of voters — including Hispanics and young people — who swung behind Obama's call for change. At the same time, the slice of voters who call themselves Republican has narrowed. The GOP also has watched as Democrats have dominated both coasts while making inroads into the West and South, leaving Republicans with a shrunken base.

Despite the run of GOP losses, Duncan had argued that he should be re-elected because of his experience; his five challengers called for change and said they represented it.

As he left the race, Duncan thanked Bush and said of his two-year tenure: "It truly has been the highlight of my life."

Another candidate, former Tennessee GOP Chairman Chip Saltsman, withdrew from the race on the eve of voting and with no explanation, saying only in a letter to RNC members, "I have decided to withdraw my candidacy."

Saltsman, who ran former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's failed presidential campaign last year, saw his bid falter in December after he drew controversy for mailing to committee members a CD that included a song titled "Barack the Magic Negro" by conservative comedian Paul Shanklin and sung to the music of "Puff, the Magic Dragon."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090131/ap_on_el_ge/republicans;_ylt=AoaCGvPc3OZa.JW_MIzKYTFI2ocA

 

[keysersoze]

Steele, an attorney, is a conservative, but he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running.

If Steele is the most moderate of the candidates, I guess I don't even want to know who conservative the rest of the Republican party head figures are!

 

[QueEx]

If Steele is the most moderate of the candidates, I guess I don't even want to know who conservative the rest of the Republican party head figures are!

Whats do you see as the problem with Michael Steele ???

QueEx

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>GOP picks its first black chairman,
but will change follow?</font size><font size="4">

Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele is the Republican Party's
necessary response to President Barack Obama's historic election</font size></center>

McClatchy Newspapers
By James Rosen and
Halimah Abdullah
Friday, January 30, 2009


WASHINGTON — Republican leaders from across the country on Friday chose former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele as the party's first black national chairman in what many said was a necessary response to President Barack Obama's historic election.

Steele, a 50-year-old son of a laundress, defeated two state party heads and incumbent Republican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan in the sixth round of daylong voting.

"This is the dawn of a new party moving in a new direction," Steele said after his win.


<font size="3">Moderate Choice - Need to Change Direction</font size>

The choice of Steele, a relative moderate, to lead the party was the Republicans' first concrete acknowledgement since Obama's inauguration that they must chart a new course after George W. Bush's departure as one of America's least popular presidents.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the embodiment of the GOP establishment in Washington, had urged activists a day earlier to end the divisiveness of the Bush years and open the party to new viewpoints.

Steele vowed that Republicans no longer would cede most of the Northeast, the Midwest and other regions to the Democrats.

"We're going to bring this party to every corner, to every boardroom, to every neighborhood, to every community," Steele declared to a standing ovation in a Capital Hilton ballroom. "We're going to say to friend and foe alike that we want you to be part of us. And to those who wish to obstruct — get ready to get knocked over!"

The selection of a new Republican standard-bearer from heavily Democratic Maryland over four other party leaders reflected the widespread view that the GOP must draw younger, more diverse voters to the fold.

"In the 21st century, the Republican Party realizes and America realizes that the party needs to change," said Johnnie Morgan, a black Los Angeles activist.

Duncan, of Kentucky, who was seeking re-election despite Republican national election losses in 2006 and in November, dropped out after falling behind Steele in the third round of voting.

Steele defeated the last remaining candidate, South Carolina Republican chairman Katon Dawson, on the sixth ballot.

Dawson, 52, congratulated Steele on his election.

"Today's hard-fought election among five honorable candidates for chairman was a testament to the strength of our cause and ideals," Dawson said.

Dawson's supporters, though, were stunned when the second black candidate, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, withdrew and asked his supporters to back Steele. Blackwell's handling of the Ohio elections in 2004, which Bush won, came under considerable criticism for alleged voting irregularities.

Blackwell, who had the backing of many social conservatives, said afterward that he hadn't chosen race over philosophy.

"I deplore racial politics," Blackwell said. "It's never worked."

Blackwell said that Steele opposes abortion, backs gun owners' rights and holds other conservative views.

Patrick Ruffini, a 30-year-old Republican who launched www.rebuildtheparty.com two days after John McCain's loss to Obama, said Steele's first tasks must be "closing the huge technology gap" Obama exposed and reaching out to voters under 30.

"We cannot lose an entire generation of voters," Ruffini said.


<font size="3">RNC Right Dismayed by Steele's Connection to Left</font size>

Some of the 168 RNC members in attendance were dismayed by Steele's election.

Steve Scheffler, head of the Iowa Christian Alliance, said Steele had ties to Republicans for Choice, Log Cabin Republicans — a gay-rights group — and others at odds with party conservatives.

"It's a whole group that is as far left as you can get," Scheffler said. "I'll support Steele because I'm a good party solider, but certainly he's my last choice."

Steele's victory revives a political career that was in decline after his loss to Rep. Benjamin Cardin in Maryland's 2006 Senate race. He defeated Blackwell, two state party chairmen — Dawson and Saul Anuzis of Michigan — and the incumbent national chairman.

A sixth candidate, Tennessee Republican chairman Chip Saltsman, withdrew from the race Thursday after enduring weeks of ridicule over sending his supporters a CD that included a song entitled "Barack the Magic Negro."

Ron Thomas, a lawyer and Dawson supporter from South Carolina, said he was disappointed in his candidate's loss, but said that he looked forward to Steele's leadership of the party.

"It's a historic day to have a minority picked as chairman," said Thomas, who's black. "It's just an exciting time to have this chairman and to have Barack Obama as president."

(David Lightman contributed to this article.)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/61199.html

 

[Lamarr]

Re: Republican Party missing: Feared dead

Allow me to chime in on this:

There was a time years ago that Rush was a voice in the wilderness who spoke the truth and took on the GOP establishment . Those days are long gone. Rush is the mouthpiece of the GOP establishment now. He is rapidly becoming irrelevant because he failed to grasp the new direction that constitutional conservatives are heading in. He mocked and dismissed Ron Paul. Huge mistake. Why? Because Ron Paul isn't going away. His voice grows louder and more influential as every prediction of the economic crisis we face made more then 20 years ago is unfolding right before our eyes. Where was Limbaugh? Telling us the fundamentals were strong and that the crisis is being caused by the Liberals who are talking us into a recession. Limbaugh was saying this nonsense right up till the election. Limbaugh has never to my knowledge exposed the fraud of the Federal Reserve. Nor has he exposed the fraud of the Income Tax. One of the most hypocritical positions Rush has taken is his support for the Drug War. All while facing charges for abusing pain pills. Especially puzzling considering his conservative idol William Buckley very publicly criticized the folly of the Drug War. Rush like Sean Hannity makes millions of dollars a year and both protect the GOP establishment. The election of Michael Steele as RNC Chairman a Bush Republican, was clear evidence that the GOP's claim to be reforming is a sick joke. Rush, I believe will continue his role as the protector of brand Republican no matter how corrupt they remain. Rush puts party before country and that is the best reason I can think of for sending Rush off to retirement in Florida. We have new voices in the media to listen to. Glenn Beck, John Stossel, Lou Dobbs to name a few. To my fellow Republicans who feel your values have been betrayed you won't hear objective views from Rush, Hannity, or Medved etc etc.. You will only get Neoconservative propaganda masquerading as Traditional Conservatism.

Repubs, you've been hoodwinked!

 

[QueEx]

Re: Republican Party missing: Feared dead

- Dwane Powell / Raleigh News and Observer (January 30, 2009)

​

 

[keysersoze]

Whats do you see as the problem with Michael Steele ???

QueEx

Its not with Steele as much as it is with the other heads of the Republican party.

Steele is not that bad, he gets a bad wrap, but he is moderate in many ways such as the death penalty and affirmative action.

 

[QueEx]

<font size="3">

Steele says he will focus on 3 critical races to revive the GOP:

1. "The most critical battles for the GOP is to capture New York's 20th congressional seat -- formerly held by U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
   
   "It is the first of a series of races that are coming up that are going to be incredibly important," Steele said in remarks Saturday to the Republican House Retreat in Hot Springs, Va.
   
   "That win will send a powerful signal to the rest of the country and especially those folks in the elite media who think they know so much more than the rest of us," he said.
   
   
2. the GOP's second focus will be on winning the governorship in both Virginia and New Jersey, along with other state offices.
   
   "That is our fight," he said of the two races.
   
   
3. Steele also stressed the importance of winning "reapportionment races at the state level."

</font size>
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/31/steele-focused-critical-races-rebuilding-gop/

`

 

[keysersoze]

Re: Republican Party missing: Feared dead

Steele’s Challenge​

He faces some tough GOP math.​

By John J. Pitney Jr.

On winning the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele pledged to “bring this party to every corner, every boardroom, every neighborhood, every community.” He was engaging in rhetorical stretch: Given its limited resources, the RNC cannot literally go everywhere. But his aspiration makes political sense. On the congressional level, Republicans have to expand their reach, because Democrats currently have a bigger playing field.

Democrats can contest just about every kind of House district: rich and poor, rural and urban, black and white. Last year, Montgomery mayor Bobby Bright won an Alabama district that had belonged to the GOP since 1965. In the First District of Idaho, which President Bush twice carried by 2-to-1 margins, Democrat Walt Minnick ousted Republican incumbent Bill Sali. The list goes on.

It doesn’t work the other way around. There was only one 2008 race—an odd one—where a Republican took a deep-blue district. With a delayed election date that depressed turnout, Anh “Joseph” Cao edged out scandal-scarred William Jefferson in Louisiana’s Katrina-depopulated Second District.

That was a fluke. In reality, large swatches of Democratic turf are off limits to the GOP. Ever since the 1960s, Republicans have seldom won more than 10 percent of the black vote, so they are not competitive in African-American districts. Democrats hold 30 of the 31 districts where African Americans make up 40 percent or more of the population (with Cao’s seat as the sole exception). Republicans also find it tough to win Hispanic votes. Democrats have 35 of the 42 districts that are at least 40 percent Hispanic. The few Republican victories are not signs of progress: Three of the seven come from the Cuban American districts in Florida, whose voting patterns differ from those of other Hispanic communities.

New England Republicans have been an endangered species for years, and with the 2008 defeat of Chris Shays, they hold none of New England’s 22 House seats. Now is the first time that the region has lacked any Republican House members since the party’s formation in the 1850s. The neighboring state of New York once had a robust GOP that could win even urban areas. No more. Of New York’s 29 House members, only three are Republicans, none from New York City.

In all, 106 Democratic districts fall into one or more of these categories: black, Hispanic, New England, New York. If the GOP concedes these seats, then it must win about two-thirds of the rest in order to regain a majority. It is hard to see how Republicans could pull off that feat, especially when Democrats can snatch so many GOP seats.

The Senate numbers are just as discouraging. After taking over a number of Republican seats in 2008, Democrats are nearing a 60-vote majority. Bringing down that number will be difficult. According to Gallup, there are seven states in which Democrats have at least a 25-point lead in party identification: Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, New York, Connecticut, and Maryland. (Republicans do not have as large a margin in any state, even Utah.) No Republican has won a Senate election in any of these states since 2000.

But these seven have something else in common: All have elected a Republican governor at least once in the last eight years. Gubernatorial elections are different from senatorial elections, because governors deal with different issues and expectations. Nevertheless, these GOP victories suggest that the Republican label is not totally toxic in blue America. Chairman Steele—who himself won statewide office in Maryland—might give careful analysis to these states to see what Senate candidates can learn from GOP governors.

He might also study the other side. As Democratic national chairman, Howard Dean pursued a “50-state strategy” to rebuild party organizations in places where they had withered. Though the strategy was controversial at first, there is evidence that it has been a major asset. If Steele takes this approach, he may have to work harder than Dean. As long as President Obama is in office, the GOP will make little headway in African American constituencies. And it will take time and patience to crack other Democratic strongholds.

That poses special difficulties, because candidates and their staffs understandably focus on the next election, not the next decade. But if Republicans hope to recover, they need to take a realistic, long-term perspective. They need not aim for radical transformations: A few points here and a few points there can make a real difference.

Such a strategy does not mean that Republicans must renounce the Second Amendment, embrace abortion, or endorse amnesty for illegal aliens. Indeed, it would make no sense to abandon the principles that matter to the party’s most loyal supporters. But Republicans do have to frame those principles in terms that appeal to a wider array of voters. The party cannot think of growing if it depends on a base that is shrinking.

— John J. Pitney Jr. is the Roy P. Crocker professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. With James Ceaser and Andrew Busch, he is co-author of Epic Journey: The 2008 Elections and American Politics.

 

[J Storm]

GOP tussles over leadership, party's future path

NEW YORK – Rush Limbaugh has been Topic A in the political world, with Republicans debating his influence on their party and Democrats trying to elevate the conservative radio host to the GOP's de facto spokesman.

The skirmish has cast a bright light on the GOP and its search for leadership in the Obama era. But the personality-driven diversion has deflected attention from the deeper problems the party faces.

Simply put, the public isn't buying what Republicans are selling right now.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll this past week put Republican popularity at near historic lows. Just 26 percent in the survey viewed the party positively, compared with 68 percent for President Barack Obama, despite the economic crisis and sharp GOP criticism of his $3.8 trillion budget plan.

Republicans trailed by more than a 30-point margin on the question of which party is best positioned to end the recession.

Congressional Republicans did show remarkable near-unanimity in opposing Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan. Yet party leaders have proved less successful in articulating a competing message on the economy. Their call for smaller government and further tax cuts has rung hollow with the public, a majority of whom believe sizable federal intervention is necessary to improve the country's bleak financial condition.

Electorally, the GOP faces an environment that is uncertain at best and challenging at worst.

Republicans are optimistic about their chances this fall in the governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey, where Democrats now are in office. But the situation is more complicated in 2010, when the GOP is defending four open Senate seats, including two in powerhouses Florida and Ohio. Both are important presidential states that swung to Obama in 2008.

Republicans also may have to contend with a costly Senate primary in Pennsylvania between incumbent Arlen Specter and conservative former Rep. Pat Toomey. In addition, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has courted potential candidates in Kentucky, fearing that incumbent Jim Bunning may be in danger.

The party's up and coming leaders have stumbled a bit as well.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential presidential contender in 2012, was widely panned after his nationally televised response to Obama's address to Congress last month.

Jindal and other Southern governors, including South Carolina's Mark Sanford and Mississippi's Haley Barbour, have drawn flack for refusing money from Obama's economic stimulus plan to help expand unemployment benefits, even though their states have some of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

And Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, has avoided the spotlight amid complaints in her state that she had been too focused on developing her national profile.

Democrats have their share of political headaches, most notably Illinois Sen. Roland Burris. He has refused to step down after acknowledging he had tried to raise money for the state's former governor, Rod Blagojevich, who appointed Burris to the seat before being impeached and removed from office.

In New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, recently appointed to the Senate seat left vacant when Hillary Rodham Clinton was named secretary of state, may face a serious primary challenge in 2010.

Still, little on the Democratic side compares with the Republican Party's challenges.

"We are in a situation that is not enviable," longtime New Hampshire GOP activist Tom Rath said. "We don't control the White House, either house in Congress, and we don't have a huge number of governors. And we had eight years where President Bush set the tone for the party."

Luckily for the GOP, many of those problems were obscured this past week by the Limbaugh flap.

To be sure, lots of Republicans are furious their party got bogged down in a fight over Limbaugh, a bombastic bomb thrower who repeatedly has declared he hopes Obama's economic policies will fail.

Party leaders are reluctant to criticize a radio host who commands an audience of 13 million largely Republican listeners per week. But Limbaugh is a polarizing figure who has limited appeal beyond the party's most conservative base.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sharply criticized White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who kicked off the anti-Limbaugh strategy last weekend by calling Limbaugh "the voice and intellectual force and energy" driving the GOP.

"As long as Rahm Emanuel is in the White House, it's a Nixon White House," Gingrich said in an interview. Gingrich said the effort to tie Republicans to Limbaugh was "a totally cynical and divisive ploy that undermines what Obama has said about being bipartisan."

Other leading Democrats were part of the chorus as well. Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wrote a newspaper column comparing Limbaugh to "fingernails on a blackboard."

Limbaugh seemed to relish the brouhaha. On Wednesday, he invited Obama to debate him and offered to pay the president's way to his radio studio in Florida.

Sanford, the South Carolina governor and a potential 2012 presidential contender, dismissed the tussle over Limbaugh as "political theater" that had little relevance to most people's lives.

"It's all secondary to the larger question of whether people, on a gut level, feel the country's headed in the right direction and whether there are answers coming from both political parties that help them with issues that impact their lives," Sanford said.

Gingrich has started a new Web based group, AmericanSolutions.com, to help Republicans think creatively about issues such as financial markets, the environment and science and technological innovation.

He praised several GOP leaders as promising new voices for the party, including Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia, Kevin McCarthy of California and Mike Pence of Indiana.

And he had high praise for Jindal and Palin, whom he called "very smart" with a promising future.

"Think of the Republican Party as a tapestry where there are many threads," Gingrich said. "This is a tapestry that will emerge with tremendous strength and coherence."

Still, the challenges are such that the GOP chairman, Michael Steele, pledged in a radio interview to put the GOP on a "12-step program" to cure it of its ills. That came after he was forced to apologize to Limbaugh for calling his message "incendiary and ugly."

No less the Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential candidate, said this past week that the party was on the ropes.

"We just lost two elections in a row, big time. Let's get together," McCain told Fox News.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090308/ap_on_el_ge/republicans_future

 

[dbluesun]

Re: GOP tussles over leadership, party's future path

fuck them

 

[QueEx]

Re: GOP tussles over leadership, party's future path

<font size="5"><center>

Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich
and Republicans at a Crossroads</font size></center>


U.S. News & World Report
By Mary Kate Cary
April 07, 2009



The Republican Party is at a crossroads.

In one direction: a well-marked road to retrenchment and a return to the glory days of our parents' era of the Republican Party.

In the other direction: an unmarked trail through the woods toward reform and rebuilding in the difficult and dangerous 21st century.​

That unmarked path is getting more traffic these days from those pulling a U-turn away from the divisive, loud politics practiced by conservative extremists out of touch with the way most families today think and act. They're also worried about the unprecedented growth of the federal government and the implications of that massive expansion for future generations. From everything I've seen and heard, those people are interested in hearing a coherent message of active but limited government, with a strong defense and an inclusive approach toward women and minorities trying to live the American Dream.

In a New York Times Magazine piece earlier this month, Matt Bai wrote of those "broadeners" who lean more toward reform than ideological purity as the party rebuilds:

Conservatism, in their view, does not mean catering to a dwindling base of white and older voters, big business and evangelicals, while younger voters, women, urbanites and minorities recoil from the Republican brand. Much of the energy here is coming from the governors, who as a rule are forced by political reality to take a less divisive approach to governing...

This intramural disagreement raises basic questions from Republicans about what kind of party they actually want to be in the 21st century. Is the Republican future going to continue to rely on country-club denizens and the rural bloc, or should it aim more for working-class Catholics or recent immigrants? Can a party trying to expand its coalition afford to make fundamentalist religious values a core tenet of its ideology? Or to assault the very idea of government?

Assaulting the very idea of government is what the holdouts on Ruby Ridge were doing, while the rest of the mainstream has realized the social safety net is here to stay. It's just a question of how big it's going to be—and so far, the three moderate Republicans and a few fiscally conservative Democrats in the Senate have had more say about limiting the size of the government than anyone else. Maybe there's a lesson there.

The Republican Party needs to figure out what it wants to say and how to say it, as well as who is saying it and to whom. Michael Steele's one-man media tour isn't going to cut it. Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post wrote today about Chairman Steele and the problem facing the GOP:

"Demographics"​

The Republican Party has backed itself into a regional, ideological and demographic corner—the one marked "rural, conservative, white." The party is out of step with the nation it aspires to lead, and until room is made for those with a range of views--and those with different racial and ethnic backgrounds—it is hard to imagine how the party can achieve its dream of establishing a new "big tent" majority.

Robinson doesn't seem to realize that RNC chair Michael Steele himself is definitely not rural, conservative, or white. The fact that he was elected (granted, after quite a few ballots) by a majority of the Republican National Committee says that at least some Republicans are ready for the path not taken.​

<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">Newt Gingrich</span> spoke to students at the College of the Ozarks yesterday and said, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">"If the Republicans can't break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would see a third party movement in 2012."</span> Some took that to be a threat. I took it to be a road map for all those folks on the road less traveled.



http://www.usnews.com/blogs/mary-ka...gingrich-and-republicans-at-a-crossroads.html

 

[QueEx]

<font size="3">

Steele says he will focus on 3 critical races to revive the GOP:

<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">

1. "The most critical battles for the GOP is to capture New York's 20th congressional seat -- formerly held by U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
   
   "It is the first of a series of races that are coming up that are going to be incredibly important,"</span> Steele said in remarks Saturday to the Republican House Retreat in Hot Springs, Va.
   
   "That win will send a powerful signal to the rest of the country and especially those folks in the elite media who think they know so much more than the rest of us," he said.
   
   
2. the GOP's second focus will be on winning the governorship in both Virginia and New Jersey, along with other state offices.
   
   "That is our fight," he said of the two races.
   
   
3. Steele also stressed the importance of winning "reapportionment races at the state level."

</font size>
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/31/steele-focused-critical-races-rebuilding-gop/

`

<font size="5"><center>

Republicans fail in early US election test</font size>
<font size="4">
Republican hopes of an early electoral resurgence against President
Barack Obama took a blow Friday when the party's candidate in a
tight New York congressional race conceded defeat</font size></center>



Associated Press
April 24, 2009



NEW YORK (AFP) — Republican hopes of an early electoral resurgence against President Barack Obama took a blow Friday when the party's candidate in a tight New York congressional race conceded defeat.

Jim Tedisco, a veteran state-level politician, abandoned his challenge against Democratic opponent Scott Murphy, who is now set to fill the empty congressional seat in Washington.

"Tedisco ran a tough but an ultimately unsuccessful race," Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said in a statement.

Obama said that with the hard-fought victory, Murphy showed "he is willing to fight the tough battles on behalf of the people in his district."

Murphy "courageously championed the economic plans we need to lift our nation and put it on a better path," Obama said in a statement.

The special election for the seat held by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand -- who filled Hillary Clinton's US Senate spot after she was appointed Obama's secretary of state -- was seen as a test of Republican ability to overcome last year's electoral drubbing and loss of the White House.

The election for upstate New York's 20th Congressional District took place March 31, but an extraordinarily tight result led to counting slowing to a crawl, as absentee ballots came in and challenges addressed.

At last count, the two candidates were separated by 399 votes, with Murphy ahead, John Conklin of the New York state election board told AFP.

"There are still objections lodged in court and there are still disputed ballots. I expect that both parties will withdraw their objections," he said.

The Republican party had long been strong in the mostly rural area, which is far removed from liberal New York city.

Although the rugged district of forests and mountains has historically been Republican territory, Steele vowed to fight on despite the set back.

Republicans "must be in districts like NY-20 if we are going to regain our congressional majorities," he said.

The effort put into the close race showed the party "is going to invest the resources necessary to regain our majority in the US House of Representatives," Steele said



http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j3-h_lUUzLANYAPtVzQjjD462HhQ

 

[QueEx]

<font size="7">Now this:

</font size>




<font size="5"><center>Steele urged to label Obama a socialist</font size></center>

Washington Times
April 23, 2009


Republican state party leaders are rebelling against new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele for failing to dub President Obama and the Democrats as "socialists." And the rebels insist that the label matters.

Even though Mr. Steele has called his Democratic adversaries "collectivists," at least 16 state leaders say the term lacks the pejorative punch needed to sway public opinion and want all 168 members of the Republican National Committee to debate and vote on it.

It is the first time in memory that a sitting national leader of the Republican Party has faced a public challenge over his ideological leadership by conservative members of his own national committee.

Critics say it is also a sign of Mr. Steele's rocky start as RNC chairman and his continuing struggle to assert control of the party's message since his election in January.

"The threat to our country from the Obama administration cannot be underestimated," Indiana RNC member James Bopp Jr. wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to the full RNC membership. "They are proceeding pell-mell to nationalize major industries, to exponentially increase the size, power and intrusiveness of the federal government, to undermine free enterprise and free markets, to raise taxes to a confiscatory level."

Mr. Bopp, a constitutional law lawyer and hero to conservatives for arguing a Supreme Court challenge to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, said he had presented Mr. Steele with a petition bearing the signatures of RNC members from 16 states - the number needed under RNC rules to convene an extraordinary meeting of the full committee next month.

Mr. Steele has twice rejected requests by Mr. Bopp, who leads two conservative caucuses within the RNC, to call the special meeting.

The petition calls for open debate at the extraordinary meeting on three conservative resolutions that for the first time directly involve the RNC in policy and ideology.

"In just a few months, the goal of the Obama administration has become clear and obvious - to restructure American society along socialist ideals," Mr. Bopp said in summarizing the first resolution. The resolution's chief sponsor is Washington state RNC member Jeff Kent, and it calls on the Democrats to be "truthful and honest with the American people by renaming themselves the Democrat Socialist Party."

Mr. Obama has had to parry conservative charges that he is a closet socialist, most notably in a memorable confrontation with "Joe the Plumber" Samuel Wurzelbacher at an Ohio campaign event last year.

The conservative critique has intensified as Mr. Obama's ambitious spending, tax, budget and policy reform programs have been taken up by the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Conservatives on the RNC acknowledge that the Republicans lost credibility as the party of small government and fiscal discipline under the Bush administration, and fear that there is no credible counterforce to what they regard as the leftward tilt of the ruling Democrats.

"Just as President Reagan's identification of the Soviet Union as the 'evil empire' galvanized opposition to communism, we hope that the accurate depiction of the Democrats as a Socialist Party will galvanize opposition to their march to socialism," Mr. Bopp wrote in his e-mail.

Mr. Steele previously offered to issue a joint statement with signers of the resolution, but they turned down his offer and insisted on a debate and vote by the full RNC membership - a state party chairman and a national committeeman and national committeewoman from all 50 states and five territories.

Oregon RNC member Solomon Yue, a founder of a conservative caucus among RNC members, said, "We must refocus the public's attention to the Democrat Party's stampede to socialism and we must make our socialist president's every legislative victory so costly that he will lose the war in 2010 and 2012."

Publicly, Mr. Steele has shied away from using the socialist line.

"We don't see this president so much as a socialist as we see him as a collectivist," he told Fox News. "When you strip away this idea that the individual matters, for this concept of the collective - all of us pulling together and working towards some governmental goal - that's what I'm more concerned about."

But in an April 6 memo to RNC members, Mr. Steele said that "Democrats are indeed marching America toward European-style socialism, and I will continue to criticize their dangerous policies in that regard - but I believe these proposed resolutions will accomplish little than to give the media and our opponents the opportunities to mischaracterize Republicans."

The second resolution, whose chief sponsor is Illinois RNC member Demetra DeMonte, urges Republican lawmakers to reject spending earmarks, which "corrupt the legislative process, wastefully expand government and are designed to help congressmen get re-elected."

The third resolution, whose chief sponsor is Oklahoma RNC member Carolyn McLarty, commends congressional Republicans who have "opposed bailouts and reckless spending bills and celebrates the unanimous opposition of Republican members of Congress to [Mr. Obama's] 10-year budget plan and the 'cap-and-trade' energy tax bill."

Some say the internal battle taking place reflects a yearning among Republicans for a single, undisputed figure to counter the popular Mr. Obama and take on Democratic congressional majorities.

"You need a single voice," Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, told The Washington Times. "I think Steele - I don't know him that well - but he needs to be the one who does that job."

Mr. Bopp said that the times "demand bold and aggressive leadership by the RNC. ... And it is time to identify the Democrats for what they are."

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/23/steele-urged-to-label-obama-a-socialist/

 

[QueEx]

An Op/Ed piece:

<font size="5"><center>
It's Time for Michael Steele To Resign</font size></center>


Real Clear Politics
by Jay Costs
May 10, 2009


On Friday, Michael Steele guest hosted Bill Bennett's radio show - and he got into a conversation with a caller on the subject of Mitt Romney's presidential candidacy. This caller - "Jay" - had suggested that Mitt Romney could have won the general election, but that liberals had co-opted the Republican nomination by backing John McCain.

This is how Michael Steele responded (see, Think Progress - "Steele Calls GOP Base Bigoted, Says They ‘Rejected’ Romney Because They Have ‘Issues With Mormonism’):

Yeah, but let me ask you. Ok, Jay, I'm there with you. But remember, it was the base that rejected Mitt because of his switch on pro-life, from pro-choice to pro-life. It was the base that rejected Mitt because it had issues with Mormonism. It was the base that rejected Mitch, Mitt, because they thought he was back and forth and waffling on those very economic issues you're talking about. So, I mean, I hear what you're saying, but before we even got to a primary vote, the base had made very clear they had issues with Mitt because if they didn't, he would have defeated John McCain in those primaries in which he lost.​

This is a very unfortunate comment, and I think it demonstrates Steele's key weakness as party chairman.

<font size="3">But first</font size>, let's be clear. On the merits, I think that Michael Steele has some valid points here. I discussed both issues at length when I was blogging on the Republican nomination campaign last year.

However, none of these comments should be coming from the Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

On the issue of flip-flopping - all signs point to Mitt Romney having an interest in a future presidential candidacy. He might very well succeed where he failed last cycle, becoming the 2012 Republican nominee. That would make these comments quite unfortunate. One could imagine the DNC working this into a general election campaign ad. The kicker is pretty obvious: "Mitt Romney's own boss doesn't think he's honest. Why should you?"

<font size="3">Second</font size>, the RNC Chairman has no business talking about a tension that exists within his party, unless the goal is to minimize it. American political parties are broad-based coalitions that seek to unify diverse groups under one banner. The views of Mormons and evangelical Christians have a lot of overlaps, which makes them political allies. However, they disagree on matters of importance to both groups. Typically, these disagreements are rarely discussed in political venues, so their tensions are usually irrelevant for the GOP. It follows that the GOP has no interest in bringing these disagreements forward. It's only going to annoy Mormons and evangelicals, and potentially pit them against one another.

<font size="3">Additionally, it's bad for the party's image.</font size> If you're trying to woo marginal voters, you don't want to emphasize the fact that groups within the party have conflicts. Think Progress headlined its clip of Steele as this: "Steele Calls GOP Base Bigoted, Says They 'Rejected' Romney Because They Have 'Issues With Mormonism.'" Republicans should hope that the mainstream press does not run with Steele's comments, as it will only forward the "GOP is shrinking and narrow" meme, which he has actually helped along in the past.

I doubt very much that the party will suffer any long run damage from his most recent comments. The problem is: if he will say something this now, what's to stop him from flapping his gums when it could do the party real harm? What if, for instance, he mouths off one night backstage at the 2012 convention in front of a Politico reporter? That'd be a great story for the party during it's crucial week of self-promotion!

<font size="3">Newt Gingrich recently defended Steele</font size> against those RNC members who are challenging him:

Steele is a huge shock because he's different. He's not just different because he's African American. He's different because he's a free spirit. He's used to saying what he thinks. He's controversial. He has enormous energy. He has great self-confidence.

For a pundit or radio personality, being a "free spirit" and "saying what he thinks" are assets. However, they are liabilities in an RNC Chairman. Ideally speaking, the chairman of a national committee should be boring, bland, and say only what will maximize contributions. There is a reason why your average party chairman is a lousy television guest who rarely strays from the talking points: that is what's good for the party.​

<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">Comments like Steele's do not help the Republican Party in any way, shape, manner, or form. The only effect they can possibly have is negative.</span> And if said in the wrong place at the wrong time, they will have a negative effect.

I think it is a great thing for a political party to have somebody who calls it like he sees it, even if those opinions don't sit well with his own side. My favorite political book of all time is John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, so I'm well versed in the value of freewheeling, open debate. However, it's no good for the party chairman to be a controversialist. Considering that he said what he said on Friday after all the controversy he has generated - it's pretty clear that he can't help himself.

<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">The party cannot afford to have its national committee chairman doubling as a controversial pundit. It's time for Michael Steele to resign.</span>

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2009/05/its_time_for_michael_steele_to.html​

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><Center>
GOP leaders seek to distance themselves
from Michael Steele</font size><font size="4">

A GOP lawmaker who requested anonymity said the
Republican National Committee chairman’s relationship
with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
is "not good at all."</font size></center>

The Hill
By Molly K. Hooper
and Bob Cusack
March 30. 2010


Republican leaders in Congress have moved to distance themselves from GOP national chairman Michael Steele, but that job will become more difficult as the spotlight on the midterm election intensifies.

A GOP lawmaker who requested anonymity said the Republican National Committee chairman’s relationship with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is "not good at all."

The legislator added, "Steele lacks a base of support. The donors, the activists will all drop him if they sense he might squander the electoral opportunity of the decade."

The RNC did not comment for this article.


<font size="3">"Hell No" Boehner</font size>

In an interview with The Hill earlier this month, Boehner said he only talks to the RNC chairman "every month or two." Asked if Steele will have a role in Boehner's effort to release another policy document like the Contract with America, Boehner replied, "No."


<font size="3">Cantor - Recants</font size>

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) criticized Steele for holding an RNC retreat in Hawaii while also taking issue with the chairman's initial prediction that the GOP would not take back the House in November.

At the time, Cantor said, "Chairman Steele has a role to play in these elections. Obviously, I have said that I disagree with his statement that we can't take back the House. So, do I want voters to think that Republicans do nothing but go to beach resorts in January? No."


<font size="3">The Kentucky Fried McConnell</font size>

Meanwhile, McConnell declined to defend Steele a couple months ago after the RNC chief made some controversial remarks. McConnell said, "Chairman Steele will be judged on the basis of how much money did he raise and how many candidates did he elect."

Before The Daily Caller reported this week that the RNC expensed a trip to a risque nightclub, Republicans had been critical of how much money the RNC has spent in the 2009-2010 cycle. The RNC's money situation is especially important to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has more than a $13 million cash-on-hand advantage on the NRCC.

It is unclear how much money the RNC will spend on House races this fall. Boehner told The Hill that House Republicans need to pick up their fundraising efforts in the months ahead.


<font size="3">Can Steele Really be Ousted ?</font size>

Removing Steele before the elections would be extremely difficult. A motion to oust him would have to be approved by a two-thirds vote of the entire RNC. Such a move could be disastrous politically because senior GOP officials say the party is trying to attract more minority voters. Steele, who is African American, last year said white Republicans are afraid of him.

Furthermore, a divisive push to remove Steele months before the election would be relished by Democrats.

One of the problems for Republicans on Capitol Hill is that Steele doesn't take orders. After a series of gaffes in 2009, the RNC chairman continued to agree to interviews before briefly keeping a low profile.

In a January interview, Steele instructed his GOP critics "to get a life."

He added, "I've had enough of it. If you don't want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way."


<font size="3">If not, Can He be Avoided ?</font size>

Keeping Steele off the Sunday talk shows after Labor Day could prove to very difficult.

However, a leadership aide says GOP leaders have found a way to "work around" Steele.

"We've had a year to figure out how to work around him," this aide said, noting that donors who refuse to give to the RNC as result of Steele's gaffes are more open to giving to the NRCC and/or the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

"Would it be helpful if we had a Haley Barbour-esqe chairman again, yes? Ironically, we have Haley Barbour — he's just head of the Republican Governors Association and in a way he's doing a lot of the same things over there," the aide explained.

For now, Republicans in Congress are just planning to grin and bear it.

"It's the hand that we're dealt right now," the Republican leadership aide said.


http://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...ek-to-distance-themselves-from-michael-steele

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><Center>
Steele falling behind on pledge
to woo more minorities to GOP</font size></center>


By Perry Bacon Jr. and Krissah Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 14, 2010


Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, under fire recently from members of his party for what they view as his shortcomings in management and communication, has also made little headway in another area: winning over minority voters to the GOP cause.

When Steele took the helm of the RNC last year, he said expanding the party beyond its traditional base was one of his main goals. But he has not been able to chip away at a current political reality: The vast majority of non-white voters are Democrats who generally approve of President Obama.

In a recent Washington Post poll, 23 percent of non-white registered voters said they had favorable views of the Republican Party, compared with 72 percent who viewed the GOP unfavorably. Those numbers were similar to polls taken in 2008, before Steele took over as RNC chairman, when 28 percent of non-white voters had favorable views of the party and 67 percent unfavorable.

African Americans' views of the GOP have barely budged since Steele's tenure began: In Post-ABC News polls following Steele's becoming the GOP's first-ever party chairman, 78 percent of blacks say they view the GOP unfavorably, again virtually unchanged from two years earlier.

Beyond a handful of speeches by Steele before minority audiences, there is little evidence the GOP has launched an "off the hook" public relations offensive that would take the party to "urban-suburban hip-hop settings," as Steele promised in an interview with the Washington Times shortly after taking the RNC reins. Steele has made some high-profile moves to woo minority voters, most notably a speech in July to the NAACP.

n Wednesday, Steele spoke at the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network Conference in New York, saying that such speaking opportunities are one of the reasons he loves his work.

"I came into this job thinking that I could pay attention to some communities that have been ignored, taken for granted or not been respected," Steele said.

As he laid out a litany of racial disparities in the education, health-care and criminal justice systems, the ballroom of black grass-roots activists sat quietly.

"The cruel truth remains that, for many African Americans, the American dream is just that: a dream," Steele said. "The justice system continues to demonstrate its bias, so the question is: What happened as we traveled along freedom's road? What happened?"

He pressed for greater acceptance of charter schools, for the virtues of small government, and for wealth-building in the black community. "Legacy wealth creation is the one thing that can transform the future of our families," Steele said. "I want to own. I don't want to be owned -- from the Middle Passage to legacy wealth."

Sharpton welcomed the RNC chairman, saying, "I give him credit for speaking to us and to other communities where he knows he may not exactly be preaching to the choir."

Steele's ability to connect with minority voters, nonpartisan analysts say, has been hampered by his devoting so many of his media appearances defending himself.

"When he was selected, there was a hope he would present a different image that would attract more African Americans to the Republican Party so that the party would seem more welcoming to people other than old white guys," said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst who writes the Rothenberg Political Report. "He's been in the middle of so much controversy that he hasn't been able to do that."

As the conservative Web site Daily Caller noted in a recent article, more than two dozen black candidates are running in House races across the country, some with enthusiastic backing from Republicans in Washington.

But only a handful, such as Ryan Frazier in Colorado and Allen West in Florida, are expected to emerge as victors in primaries against other Republicans in districts where they could then also win the general election. Many of them either won't win primaries or are running in districts with strong Democratic incumbents. It remains likely that, after this year's elections, the number of black Republican members of Congress will remain the same as it has been since Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) retired from the House in 2003: zero.

"We are more diverse than we've been in the past, and that's something we will continue to work on," said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) who has been involved in recruiting House candidates for the GOP.

Of course, the challenges for Republicans in wooing minority voters far predate Steele's tenure. It would have been impossible to expect him to dramatically turn around the perception of the party among minorities or recruit a huge bloc of black candidates in a single year.
ad_icon

Steele's office did not respond to a request for comment on his minority outreach efforts, but an interview last November, he said, "This is a baby-step process."

"A black chairman doesn't mean everybody is going to be a Republican. It doesn't work that way," he said.

Asked if Steele stepping down would negatively affect the GOP, Watts, now a lobbyist, said "What, with black people? We haven't done anything to attract them yet."

Thompson reported from New York. Staff writer Amy Gardner, polling director Jon Cohen and polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/14/AR2010041403104.html?hpid=topnews

 

[QueEx]

<IFRAME SRC="http://www.factcheck.org/2010/06/dnc-steals-words-right-out-of-steeles-mouth/" WIDTH=780 HEIGHT=1500>
<A HREF="http://www.factcheck.org/2010/06/dnc-steals-words-right-out-of-steeles-mouth/">link</A>

</IFRAME>

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Pressure builds against Michael Steele</font size>

<font size="4"> "the top priority of many committee members isn’t necessarily coming
to agreement on Steele’s replacement but rather ensuring
he won’t have the votes to be reelected. </font size></center>

p o l i t i c o
By ANDY BARR
November 10, 2010


The pressure to block Michael Steele from winning a second term as Republican National Committee chairman is rising within GOP circles, with at least a dozen names being floated as possible successors.

While the stop Steele effort is still in its early stages, many of the potential challengers will test their support during next week’s Republican Governors Association winter meeting and are expected to announce their candidacies sometime between the RGA meeting and Thanksgiving.


Other prospective candidates are awaiting a sure sign from Steele that he will seek reelection to his post. The RNC chairman is expected to run for another term — and has made moves suggesting that is his plan — but has yet to confirm his intentions.

There’s “lots of activity to oust Steele,” said David Norcross, a longtime New Jersey committeeman who announced earlier this year that he’s leaving his post with the committee. "I don't think there is one 'ringleader,' but there are a number of unhappy members and a lot of general calling going on which is par for the course for RNC chair elections with no president to help us understand what we think."

Several influential RNC members told POLITICO there is widespread — and wild — speculation about possible challengers to Steele. But the top priority of many committee members, the sources said, isn’t necessarily coming to agreement on Steele’s replacement but rather ensuring he won’t have the votes to be reelected.

“There is a growing conversation amongst the members to take a look at what the options are and to identify what kind of chairman we need for the next cycle,” added another RNC member who spoke anonymously in order to be more frank.

“There is a growing consensus for some kind of change,” the committeeman added. “I don’t think it has necessarily culminated yet one way or another. A lot of people don’t want to jump to conclusions too early and want to give Steele a chance to decide what he’s going to do.”

An RNC spokesman declined to comment.

Henry Barbour, a national committee member from Mississippi and the nephew of Republican Governors Association Chairman Haley Barbour, is playing a key behind-the-scenes role in facilitating the discussions and is viewed as the hub of conversations on finding alternatives to Steele.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday Barbour, who has been in talks with many influential committee members about the future of the RNC, approached Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus about running.

Priebus would not respond to a request for comment.

“I like Michael Steele. I have worked to support Michael in the committee while he’s been chairman,” Barbour told POLITICO. “But it’s clear to me that we need a change for the next election cycle.”

Barbour was for a time rumored to be weighing a run of his own, but says now that he’s just part of an emerging conversation within the committee about blocking Steele from winning reelection.

“I gave it some serious thought,” Barbour said. “But I have a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old daughter at home and while they’re growing up, my place is at home.”

RNC sources pointed to Massachusetts Committeeman Ron Kaufman and former South Carolina Chairman Katon Dawson as two insiders also urging others to challenge Steele.


The wide-ranging list of potential Steele candidates is broken up into two distinct categories — those from within the committee and outsiders who hold sway with Republican donors and operatives.


According to RNC insiders, among those whose names are being floated to replace Steele — or are floating their own names — are Priebus, Norcross, former Michigan Chairman Saul Anuzis, former North Dakota Chairman Gary Emineth, California Chairman Ron Nehring, Texas Committeeman Bill Crocker, District of Columbia Committeeman Tony Parker, former RNC Deputy Chairwoman Maria Cino, RNC Co-Chair Jan Larimer and former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, who lost his reelection bid to Steele.

Duncan and Anuzis stand out among the insider field, as both fell short to Steele last time around in January 2009 and have a stable of supporters among the 168 RNC members that immediately establish them as credible candidates.

Duncan, according to one committee member close to him, is “not looking to run but definitely believes that we have to have a change.”

“If he needs to be the change, I think he would be,” the member added, though cautioning that Duncan would likely only run if a strong candidate did not emerge in the coming weeks.

Anuzis confirmed to POLITICO that he is looking at a run but has yet to make a decision.

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said. “I’m talking to people about it, and I’m considering in. But I’ve yet to make that decision at this time.”

Others, such as Nehring, say they are surprised to find their names swirling in RNC speculation.

“I’m flattered,” Nehring said in an interview late Tuesday night after landing in Washington, saying that much of the speculation had caught him off guard as he had just spent the past few hours on a plane.

The committee outsiders being considered include former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association.

None of those three responded to requests for comment, but committee sources noted that outsider runs have rarely been successful, so they would likely need solid backing from a bloc of RNC members.

In the event Steele seeks another term, he will face the same obstacle as Duncan in his bid for reelection — a solid bloc of RNC members who simply want a change, even if they aren’t united behind a candidate. Unlike Duncan though, Steele defenders can point to a wildly successful winning record and a strategy that saw Republicans make inroads into Democratic territory.

“Last time around there was an anybody-but-Duncan coalition,” said an RNC source. “I could very easily see a very natural coalition forming of anyone but Steele plus all the individuals everyone is for.”

The source pointed out that Steele was not necessarily viewed as the chief rival to Duncan, but was able get the 85 votes needed to win over six ballots.

This time, though, Steele could be the one facing a firm bloc of voters who absolutely won’t support him, succumbing to an unexpected challenger.

“Steele’s support is much softer than people realize,” said a Republican operative close to the committee.



http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44948.html

 

[Lamarr]

Friend To Ron Paul and Enemy of Establishment Richard Steele Seeks Re-election!

Controversial Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who last month presided over the GOP's biggest electoral gains since 1938, will announce tonight that he is running for re-election, Fox News has learned from two RNC members.

Ending weeks of rumors that he would not seek a second term, Steele plans to throw his hat into the ring during a conference call with RNC members at 7:30 p.m. ET, the sources said. Steele is said to be amused by false reports of his retirement and intentionally kept his plans secret for the last month in order to flush out competitors for the post, Fox has learned.

During Steele's tenure, Republicans picked up 63 House seats in last month's elections, the biggest gain in more than seven decades. But Steele has been dogged by criticism from some Republicans who see him as prone to missteps.

Criticism of Steele has helped lead to a crowded field of challengers seeking to head the RNC. Among those who have officially announced they are in the race are Saul Anuzis, a committee member from Michigan who ran and lost to Steele in 2009, and Reince Priebus of Wisconsin, a former member of Steele's inner circle, along with former Luxembourg Ambassador Anne Wagner

Former RNC Political Director under Steele Gentry Collins and Maria Cino, a former Bush administration official are also both flirting with a run.

 

[thoughtone]

Michael Steele delivered one of the most successful mid term elections to the Republicans in 70 years and how does the GOP establishment thank him?

With all the issues the Democratic Party has, I understand the ambivalence some have against it, but as a Black man, their is no damn way I could give any of my money to today's Republican Party!

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Michael Steele's RNC Regime Ends </font size></center>

The Root
By: Nsenga Burton
January 14, 2011



<font size="3">Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele graciously stepped aside,</font size> handing over the reins to Wisconsin Republican Party Chief Reince Priebus in the battle for one of the most coveted positions in the Republican Party.

<font size="3">While Steele has been scapegoated as the reason for the downfall of the Republican Party,</font size> he actually accomplished a lot during his tenure as the first African-American chairman of the RNC. George Jarkesy of the Baltimore Sun breaks it down: Steele set fundraising records, helped generate the largest midterm turnout for any party in American history, helped pick up the most House seats in 72 years and, for good measure, helped win the most state legislative seats in 82 years.

<font size="3">Steele has been blamed for spending more money than any other RNC chairman,</font size> but some would argue that if he had not spent that kind of money on winning elections and increasing voter turnout, Republicans would not have reclaimed the House in the November elections. The credit line that critics bash Steele for establishing was in fact established at the direction of the 168 members of the RNC, who voted to take on debt to ensure that the GOP was able to capitalize on the major opportunities presented in this cycle.

<font size="3">If Steele was so effective, why did RNC members want him out?</font size> Upon winning the high-profile position, in a bid to superficially maintain cultural ties to the African-American community, Steele said that he would give the GOP a "hip-hop" makeover, which sounds as ridiculous as the term "hip-hop Republican," which is more of a marketing tool than a reality. The gesture fell flat on black America and threw Republicans into a tizzy. They had not elected Steele to make over the RNC -- they elected him to maintain the status quo, raise money from large donors and attract more African-Americans to the party. Having Steele at the helm of the RNC would quell all of that talk about racism in the Republican Party and its "racist" political proclivities. Steele's presence was supposed to be symbolic, and an olive branch to the African-American community. With that one silly announcement, Steele managed to isolate African Americans and his own party in one fell swoop, setting in motion his tumultous tenure at the RNC.

<font size="3">Steele didn't help matters any by becoming an object of ridicule</font size> because of his repeated gaffes as RNC chair. He spoke out against the Afghan war, which he also referred to as "cute," when many in his party actually supported the war. He got the First Amendment wrong during a radio broadcast. For an attorney, that's pretty much unacceptable. When he was running for RNC chair, Steele said that his favorite book was Tolstoy's War and Peace but then quoted Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, so there was an indication of the mistakes to come before he assumed the position of RNC chair. And who can forget "bondage-gate," when RNC staffers charged a $2,000 bill from a seedy Los Angeles strip club to the RNC? Steele wasn't there, but he took the hit because it was under his watch. We won't mention the spending at lavish hotels, with one occasion producing a receipt for $9,099 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

<font size="3">Some of it was petty. Some of it was major.</font size> While other RNC chairs had been able to do as they wanted without the public wanting accountability, Steele forgot the cardinal rule: As the first African-American RNC chair, not only was he going to be high-profile, but he was also going to be highly scrutinized. Everyone knows that being the first in anything does not allow room for too many mistakes. Steele's prominence magnified his flaws, allowing liberals and critics to label him a dunce, and his own party to label him incompetent, when, in fact, neither was absolutely true.

<font size="3">Feeling the fallout from traditional Republicans, Steele hitched his wagon to the Tea Party,</font size> saying that if he weren't chair of the RNC, he would be riding with them, further isolating the Republican base and African Americans again. Steele literally boarded a bus with the Tea Party at the wheel, striking out on a 48-city "Fire Pelosi" tour, campaigning his heart out to help his party win those important November elections. Steele delivered. Pelosi was relieved of her position as speaker of the House. He raised more money from more donors than any predecessor. As chairman, he elected more candidates at more levels than in nearly a century. If that's what chairs are supposed to do -- raise money and win elections -- then why is Steele out?

<font size="">Truth be told, Steele is out because the RNC really only wanted him as a symbol of party progress, when the reality is very different.</font size> Why couldn't the Republican Party attract more black members, even with a black leader like Steele? Because the racism coursing through the veins of some of its members, especially the Tea Party contingent, is isolating and repulsive. Many of the same people whom Steele claimed he would ride with would never ride with him anywhere, except to Congress, quickly disposing of him afterward. Steele lost because he believed his own hype -- that he was there based on his abilities, which were superb, when in fact they wanted him there solely as a black face, not as a whole man.

<font size="3">The reality of Michael Steele is that he can come across as someone lacking substance</font size>, but in fact, he got the job done. His detractors valued his likability and appeal over his actual execution of his duties, which was unparalleled. Steele's ride as RNC chairman may have been bumpy, but it was very productive. While the Republican Party should be thanking Steele, instead it is the Democrats who are thankful that he's no longer there.

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/michael-steeles-rnc-regime-ends-sour-note

 

[hocjo2626]

FUCK MICHAEL STEELE!! BITCH AS WIGGA! And that's not a typo. And don't come trying to run back to black folks for acceptance. Bitch!!