Michael Steele: What Are You Saying?

During a recent meeting with a group of young Republicans, GOP National Committee Chairman, Michael Steele, told the crowd that he would reach out to black voters by offering them fried chicken and potato salad. His remarks were an answer to a question directed at him from the audience on how he planned to woo African Americans to the Republican party.

The exchange with Steel and participants in the audience went as follows::

"My plan is to say 'Y'all come,' because a lot of you are already here", said Steel. Someone in the audience said, "I'll bring the collard greens," and Steele replied, "I got the fried chicken and potato salad."

If this is the strategy the Republicans plan to put forward to galvanize Black voters to the tent, then it will not be successful. These remarks were not funny and can be construed, by many, as quite condescending.

Cloud of Suspicion Surrounds Michael Steele

The newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, has a lot of explaining to do regarding charges he misappropriated funds from his 2006 Senate campaign. According to Alan Fabian, the former finance chairman for Steele's unsuccessful Senate bid, Steele knowingly and fraudulently funneled approximately $40,000 to his sister's defunct catering and web services.

Fabian is also alleging that Steele, the first African American ever elected to head either major national political party in this country, paid a law firm $75,000 from his state campaign to do some work that was never performed.

But during a recent appearance on ABC's "This Week," Mr. Steele pushed back hard on these claims by Fabian, by challenging anyone who would dare believe the word of a "convicted felon who is trying to get a reduced sentence." Steele went on to say:

"Those allegations were leveled by a convicted felon who was trying to get a reduced sentence on his conviction. The reality of it is that the US attorney, as well as the judge, looked at what he presented and it did not apply. He said there was no credibility to it. The Washington Post ought to be ashamed of itself for getting out in front of something without all of the facts."

Steele, who has advocated the need for higher ethical standards in Washington, DC politics, recently cleaned house at the RNC... getting rid of 100 staffers in his quest to prove he will bring a new vision to the Committee starting with a new crop of workers. With his credibility now being challenged, Steele may need to do more that discredit Fabian the messenger, and provide undeniable proof to the media relative to the law firm billing charges and also show that his sister did... or did not have a catering service that he employed and paid money to during that time. This will help clean up his name. Short of that, a cloud of suspicion will remain over him until this is resolved.



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Republican Brand In Tatters...

The aftermath of a grueling 2008 election finds the Republican party in tatters... and teeter-tottering on the edge of the abyss. Not only did Republicans lose key House and Senate seats, but the thumping they received on November 4th, were voters soundly rejecting the broken brand of the Grand Old Party.

The expected finger pointing and blame-game antics are running amuck amongst the party rank and file. Unfortunately, there is very 'little' time for such futile Monday morning quarterback exercises, as the 2010 mid-term elections are literally 'around the corner'. Realizing that reality... the Republican VIPs and party leaders are busy holding meetings across this nation in an effort to re-tool or reinvent their brand... and find the new face of the party. Voters in this election cycle seemed to overwhelmingly repudiate the image of the older White-gray-haired-men's club that the Republican party continues to promote... and are demanding more diversity.

To that end, former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, an African American, is being batted around as the potential RNC Chairman. Other names being considered include Vice Presidential nominee and Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, who proved to be quite a fund-raising, base galvanizing force, and also Mrs. Renee Amoore, Pennsylvania State Deputy Chair, a powerful African American woman.

According to Mrs. Amoore, in order for the Republican party to move forward and reconnect with the American people, it first has some deep soul-searching to do, and will need to begin the process by addressing the following questions:

"Who is the real Republican party? Where are we now? Where do go from here and how do we get there? [Renee Amoore, Nov. 12, 2008]

That President-elect Barack Obama and the Democrats were able to syphon off a sizeable number of Evangelical electorates, and quite a large block of the Hispanic/Latino voters during this historic race, is an indication the Republican's message has been muted and is no longer resonating with those groups that have long made up the party's base.

These eye-opening losses which occurred this year should open the door for new party leaders such as Governors Jindal of Louisiana and Sarah Palin, and Jewish American Eric Cantor, a Congressman from Virginia, emerging to the forefront to help shape the party's agenda for the future. If not... then it will be a long drought before Republicans can see any meaningful change in the grim picture being presented today.

The people have spoken. And, it would be wise for those in Red State America to adhere to GOP presidential nominee John McCain's words, as he clearly and appropriately explained this year's massacre during a recent visit to the Jay Leno Show:

"...our party has a lot of work to do. We just got back from the woodshed". [John McCain, Nov 11, 2008]