RNC Chairman Michael Steele was not one of those we used as an example because frankly his use of the race card to explain missteps was wrong along with some of his pandering to Obama only because he is black. Excuse us for wanting a color blind Chairman. He has been given free reign and it was his choice to hire the people he did and to pay expense accounts for some others. Seems he needs a lesson that the Buck Stops at his Desk not because he is black but because he is the Chairman.
Frances Rice who holds the Chairman of the Black Republicans is a real asset to the Republican Party and her articles are very insightful. Rice wrote a paper, Why Martin Luther King was a Republican detailing reasons why he would have been a Republican in those days.
Republican Black Conservatives Armstrong Williams, Dr. Alveda King (niece of Martin Luther King), Rev Jesse Lee Peterson and others are Speakers for the Emancipation Revelation Revolution (ERR) Documentary group (http://errvideo.com/Speakers.html).
In reading the biographies of the people from the Speakers Bureau of the ERR I was reminded of how fortunate we are to such articulate conservative spokesman for our Party.
Conservatives take hits from the media all the time but Black Conservatives take a lot more as the liberal media cannot believe they are Conservative and Republican. Larry Elder and Ken Blackwell both went after Steele using 'race' as an excuse because what he did has nothing to do with race and the race card should not have been played.
The vote for RNC Chair came down to two men -- Steele and Blackwell. The difference was arrogance on the part of some of the RNC Members as they wanted someone who had been a member of the RNC to be Chair. That meant the Chair went to Steele who had been a member from Maryland and not Blackwell, the former Ohio Secretary of State who also happened to be black. We believe that Blackwell would have been the better choice because of his demeanor, organizational capability, and someone you would want to work for as your boss. Ken Blackwell does not have an elitist bone in his body while we believe Michael Steele with the way he wants to spend donations on his travel, his meals, where he holds meetings, etc. is an elitist.
We do disagree with the author that Steele was chosen because he was black because if you look at the list of people willing to run for Chair, Blackwell was the only candidate who we believe would have made the better Chairman. We don't think Obama winning had as much to do with it as Steele wanted to run the RNC to move back into running for political office.
Using the race card to explain his missteps is wrong. The thought that he didn't think a lot of us have gone after Chairs in the past for a variety of reasons is naive. Don't care what race or color of the man's skin, I want a Chairman who is articulate, knows when to stay silent, and doesn't come across as an elitist. The fact that he charges for speeches goes against what I believe. He is traveling on our nickel and yet wants paid for speeches. He can resign and get paid all he wants.
This article has an interesting premise that is worth reading and then ask yourself why we are keeping a Chairman that would have been gone for his extravagant ways in the past but now now? His job is to steer the RNC to win in November not to make this about himself.
GOP should fire Steele for sake of racial equality
By: Chris Stirewalt Political EditorApril 8, 2010
(AP)
Republicans are paying a terrible price for their cynical decision to make Michael Steele their chairman.
And it's not about the money.
Reporters are poring over the Republican National Committee's expenditures for further evidence of the culture of profligacy Steele has fostered.
Steele picked a Hawaiian resort for the party's winter meeting and uses corporate jet charters to keep up with a schedule packed with book events and speaking engagements that profit him personally.
The employee who sprang for a $2,000 bar tab at an L.A. nightclub and the unnamed staffer that spent almost $1,000 for "office supplies" at a Vermont winery were reflections of a corporate culture, not rogue agents.
Steele is touting the party's $11.4 million fundraising in March -- more than any previous March in a midterm year but less than the Democratic National Committee brought in.
Does anyone suppose that if Mike Duncan had stayed at the helm of the RNC that the amount wouldn't have been bigger? And how much smaller will the haul be in April, now that the gory details of Steele's spending have come to light?
You can understand why Newt Gingrich says that the time has come to quiet down about Steele. Gingrich is the same guy who said that Republicans should unite behind Dede Scozzafava in last fall's special election in New York. He knows that if you can't fix a problem, you should at least stop talking about it.
Republicans are doing everything they can to shove Steele into a closet. Gingrich wants a financial overseer for the party, and talking head after talking head encourages Steele to keep a lower profile.
Who are they kidding? Steele's main gift is talk, and he can bring it fast and furious. He's one of the best I've seen at the talking-point filibuster -- quick, electric and a little dangerous.
The idea that someone who lives on limelight will simply cloister himself and wait for his term to end is wishful thinking by Gingrich and others.
Whether Steele stays on as chairman or leaves, he will be in the news from now until November. He is a sound bite machine, loves publicity and gives establishment media outlets a chance to say embarrassing things about Republicans. Talk about a triple threat for cable TV.
But the biggest danger posed by Steele is not the loss of a few millions or some missed opportunities this fall.
The real risk is losing the party's best claim on minority voters.
As America becomes less white with each passing year, Democrats are betting that their party can dominate the future because they embrace special treatment for minorities.
When Barack Obama won the presidency, Republicans panicked and embraced identity politics. If the Democrats had a black president, Republicans would have a black chairman.
Now, that black chairman has repeatedly suggested that racism is to blame for his troubles and insinuated that his own party cannot handle having a black man in charge. It's the most damaging part of the whole Steele affair.
Republicans have a claim on racial equality stretching back 154 years, but the GOP will never match Democrats as the party of retributive racial justice.
(snip)
And what would communicate the belief in equality more perfectly than booting a chairman who is using his race to try to hold on to power?
Chris Stirewalt is the political editor of the Washington Examiner. He can be reached at cstirewalt@dcexaminer.com.
Excerpt: Read more at the Washington Examiner
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