Steele: I'll Woo Blacks To GOP With "Fried Chicken And Potato Salad"

By Bil Browning

The Young Republicans convention was held in Indianapolis last weekend and their election of a racist, middle-aged woman as President isn't the only controversial item to come out of the GOP gathering.

Local Republican blog Hoosier Access was able to get RNC Chairman Michael Steele to sit down with a group of bloggers and they taped the conversation. The old gaffe-o-matic (or as I like to call him, the Republican Joe Biden!) answers a question from a gay person of color in this clip about the GOP's diversity outreach.



Steele: I'll Woo Blacks To GOP With "Fried Chicken And Potato Salad"....

Michael Steele's First 100 Days as GOP Chairman a Mixed Bag

By: Michael H. Cottman

For Michael Steele, the embattled, slang-talking chairman of the Republican National Committee, life in the first 100 days of his tenure has been hard out there for a pimp.

Steele, under fire from GOP conservatives since he took the job in January, has surprised and angered many by risking overexposure in the media and making a series of high-profile gaffes during nearly every national interview.

Many Republicans argue that Steele should cut back significantly on his media appearances while others are not comfortable with Steele’s continued use of hip-hop slang in response to serious questions about the GOP’s vision for the nation.

Steele, the first African-American to be elected as the Republican Party’s chairman, has offered these samplings in his first 100 days in office: He referred to President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan as “bling bling;” said his public relations plan to recruit younger voters is “off the hook;” said he wants to send out some “slum love” to Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is of Indian descent, and recently told a reporter, “that’s how we roll,” when answering a question about the RNC. In challenges to Obama, Steele has asked, "How do you like me now?"

And last week, in yet another volatile Steele controversy, the GOP chairman agreed with a radio caller’s characterization of Obama as “the magic Negro.”

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....

How Sorry is the GOP?

Pretty sorry. When the chairman of the RNC apologizes to a talk show host, you know things are in bad shape.

By: Sophia A. Nelson

In a few words, Rush Limbaugh has lost it. Not only did he show up at CPAC last weekend to rile up the conservative GOP base, but he challenged the president of the United States to a debate on his show. Is this guy for real?

As for my friend and fellow Republican Michael Steele, who recently apologized to Limbaugh for calling him an "entertainer" with an "incendiary" show, he needs to take a step back and regroup. His apology was ill-considered, and his RNC political advisers are not serving him well.

Poor Michael. He is stuck in a party gone rogue, and we all know it. Caught between the conservative right and the moderate centrist American political temperament, Mr. Steele has to walk a fine line.

Let me be clear. As someone who wrestles daily with her affiliation in the GOP, Mr. Chairman, your job as the leader of the GOP is not to kiss up to Rush Limbaugh or to late-night political pundits. Your job is to build the party at the grassroots level and expand the party to become more diverse, open and focused on important policy matters like the economy. You missed a golden opportunity on D.L. Hughley’s CNN show when Rush Limbaugh’s name came up. Yes, you are the head of the Republican Party, but you made a bad fumble when you apologized to Limbaugh for simply stating the obvious.

Where is your heart? Why would you and others like Rep. Phil Gingrey apologize to a man who proudly proclaims that he [Limbaugh] is “talent on loan from God”?

Limbaugh may have 20 million listeners, but he is the “de facto leader” of nothing. He is a radio shock jock with a $400 million contract, who in the last several years has said some of the most offensive things about black people and our new president.

How Sorry is the GOP?....

Steele: Rush Isn't The GOP's Leader -- He's An Entertainer

To Whom Does Steele Owe Thanks for His GOP Win? Barack Obama

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

Better late than never, I say.

Nearly two decades after the Democrats anointed Ron Brown as the first African-American to head their national committee, the Republicans finally caught up. They recently tapped former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele as their first black party chairman.

At this rate, I guess the GOP will nominate its first black presidential candidate by 2029.

Yet and still, the Republicans’ decision to tap Steele as their leader does, at least, show that they are dipping a big red toe into the new purple mainstream of American politics. This mainstream is one that is ethnically and racially diverse; one that defines itself on issues that it can build upon, not divide itself against.

It was that mainstream that swept Barack Obama into the White House – and Steele into the GOP party chairmanship.

So instead of just thanking the Republican leadership for his new job, Steele ought to be thanking Obama – because if his guy, John McCain, had won, he wouldn’t have had a chance against the guy who George W. Bush foisted on them.

Understand though, that Steele’s ascension doesn’t mean that the Republicans have suddenly unearthed their inner-Lincoln. His nomination, in fact, was hard-fought. Steele, who bills himself as a conservative but is moderate on issues like affirmative action and abortion rights, lobbied for the position for more than two months.

It took six ballots and a five-hour voting marathon before he was proclaimed the winner.

And while Republicans have been willing to trust black people with top positions – witness George W. Bush’s appointments of Colin Powell and later, Condoleezza Rice as the first black secretaries of states – they’ve also been known to expect acquiescence, and not attitude, from them.

It’s like they’re willing to give black people and minorities top jobs – with the understanding that they behave as slaves.

That has to change.

COMMENTARY....