RNC Opens, Recesses Under Isaac's Shadow

Republicans launched Mitt Romney's national convention Monday with the bang of a gavel before a smattering of delegates as Tropical Storm Isaac led them to cancel most of the opening-day program.

Michael Steele Pleads For New Term As RNC Chair

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By: Liz Sidoti, AP National Political Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — GOP Chairman Michael Steele defended his rocky two-year tenure anew Monday and asked for another term, boiling his re-election pitch down to this: "My record stands for itself. We won." CONTINUE....

Steele: Reid Should Resign, But I Shouldn't

By: Frederick Cosby, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com

Embattled Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele said Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should resign for using racially offensive language in praising President Barack Obama, even though Steele didn’t volunteer to quit his job for using a phrase last week that many Native Americans consider a racial slur.

 

Steele: Reid Should Resign, But I Shouldn't....

Black or Not, Is Steele Okay with GOP's Racism?

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

When Michael Steele became the first black to chair the Republican National Committee, I harbored hopes that he might turn out to be the face of racial change in a party whose future hinges on it broadening its base beyond Southern white people.

Sadly, he’s become the face of complicity.

Black or Not, Is Steele Okay with GOP's Racism?....

Steele's Antics Invite More Eye-Rolling than Eye Opening

By: Deborah Mathis

Saw a woman on the subway the other day wearing Timberland boots, huge, baggy jean shorts that hit below the knee; a bandana and a cap; and a T-shirt with a likeness of reggae great Bob Marley.

It was not the hip-hop uniform per se, but the woman’s age that made her look, as they say, “a hot mess.” She was with her fully grown daughter and granddaughter and looked to be at least my age, 55.

Two questions sprang to mind: (1) Why, sister? And (2) Do you know Michael Steele?

Ever since he won the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, Steele, who is 50, has been slinging slang with abandon. He criticized the stimulus bill for being overloaded with “bling.” He offered “slum love” to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, whose parents are from India, the setting of the Academy Award-winning film, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

And, last week, on MSNBC, there was this expository on diversity among Republicans: “You wear your hat one way. You like to wear it, you know, kind of cocked to the left, you know, because that's cool out West,” Steele said. “In the Midwest, you guys like to wear it a little bit to the right. In the South, you guys like to wear the brim straight ahead. Now, the Northeast, I wear my hat backwards, you know, because that's how we roll in the Northeast.”

Good heavens.

Steele's Antics Invite More Eye-Rolling than Eye Opening....

Michael Steele Holding Onto GOP Chair – But For How Long?

By: Michael H. Cottman

Michael Steele, the embattled chairman of the Republican National Committee, is pushing back against his critics by focusing on fundraising, filling key positions within the GOP leadership – and keeping a lower profile.

Under fire from Republicans for his recent controversial remarks about abortion and his criticism of Rush Limbaugh, Steele announced last week that the RNC has $24 million cash-on-hand, raised $5.1 million in February and is currently debt free.

“The Republican National Committee is in a strong financial position thanks to our motivated base of supporters and contributors,” Steele said in a statement. “We are building the organization we need to be successful in 2009 and beyond.”

For weeks, Steele’s Republican critics have been urging him to refrain from conducting media interviews and spend more time working on behalf of the RNC. Some have called for his ouster, and others have practically written Steele’s political obituary.

It appears Steele is getting the message: He recently hired a communications director, a political director and has declined all recent requests for interviews with the media. One GOP advisor said Steele is "pulling back" from media interviews to focus on the nuts and bolts of the party's business. The RNC also released a new Web video Friday, titled “Mystery Solved.” The video blames Democrats for the AIG controversy involving executive bonuses.

One senior GOP strategist told BlackAmericaWeb.com that Steele is staying on the job.

“There is no way he can be elected out at this point,” the strategist said. “Can't and won't happen. The true test of his effectiveness will be in the fundraising numbers, and so far, they're not bad in comparison to this time last year. Folks need to give Steele that same opportunity. Leave him alone, and let him do his job.”

But Steele’s critics have accused Steele of running off at the mouth and talking before he’s clearly thought through the issues.

Michael Steele Holding Onto GOP Chair – But For How Long?....

Note to Steele: Make it Real Before You Keep it Real

By: Deborah Mathis

Having been read the Riot Act by the Republican National Committee elite, Michael Steele is now said to be abandoning his Here I Am Tour to focus on fundraising and rebuilding the RNC infantry – jobs one and two in regaining political power.

Or so they say.

Where both the party faithful and Steele are off-track is in their assessment of what it will take to win the hearts and minds of the American majority and, thereby, the power they seek. No doubt, it is essential to raise money – the “mother’s milk of politics,” as an old pol once put it – and you need a staff of operatives to manage fundraising activities, execute the media outreach, activate the spin machine and get out the vote. But, that presumes you have something to spend all of the money and energy on.

So far, the GOP’s got bean bag, unless you want to count the same old staid ideas that took them pretty much nowhere in the 2006 mid-term and the 2008 presidential elections.

To his credit, Steele seems to have gotten that much of the message that came through so loudly and clearly last Nov. 4, with the election of a candidate who was, in practically every way, the polar opposite of the tiresome incumbent – the tiresome Republican incumbent, that is.

When he won the RNC chairmanship in January, he came out swinging. And swaggering.
To hear him tell it, the Grand Old Party was in reformation, and the new organization he envisioned would have a hip hop edge to it.

Note to Steele: Make it Real Before You Keep it Real....