Photo Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/ Associated Press
Michael Steele (Johns Hopkins B.A. ‘81) seizes the gavel as the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee.
WASHINGTON—For the first time, African-Americans are the faces of the two political parties in the United States, as Michael Steele was elected the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee today. The former lieutenant governor of Maryland succeeds Representative Mike Duncan who failed to be reelected.
“This is awesome,” Steele said as accepted his party’s chairmanship.
Steele beat out four other candidates, departing RNC chair Duncan, South Carolina Republican chair Katon Dawson, Michigan Republican chair Saul Anuzis, and former Ohio secretary of state Kenneth Blackwell.
After losing control of congress in 2006 and the presidency in 2008, Republicans eagerly sought to remake their image. Republicans embraced their own version of change with Michael Steele.
“The winds of change are blowing at the RNC,” said Duncan as he withdrew his candidacy from the chairman’s race. “This is an organization that is in good shape,” he added.
The RNC’s winter meeting preceded a series of scandals involving its members. Chip Saltsman, a former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee, withdrew his name from consideration on Thursday before the voting session after it became known that he had distributed a holiday CD with racially insensitive songs like “Barack the Magic Negro” and “The Star Spanglish Banner.”
In addition, Katon Dawson resigned his membership at an all-white country club in South Carolina as he began to run for the chairmanship. The country club, Forest Lake Club, has a whites-only restriction.
The outcome of the chairman’s race was unknown coming into the race. Hotline of the National Journal reported that Duncan had the slight lead but still gave a chance to the other candidates.
It took Steele six ballots over many hours to become the next RNC chairman. However, he was consistently seen as the most likely candidate. After every ballot, Steele received an increasing number of votes unlike his opponents who lost votes as time passed and candidates dropped out.
Voting began in the morning and lasted until late afternoon with six ballots cast by the 168 RNC members. Hunter had the slight lead in the first ballot with 52 votes and Steele followed closely at 46. Duncan, Blackwell, and Anuzis pulled out after receiving insufficient votes as the day progressed, leaving the sixth ballot between Steele and Dawson. Steele received 91 and Dawson 77. 85 votes, a majority, were needed.
Steele, 50, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international studies from Johns Hopkins in 1981. He was lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003-2007 and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2006.
The newly elected chairman wants to focus on rebuilding the Republican’s image in order to reach out to groups previously neglected under previous chairmen.
“We’ve got an image problem,” said Steele at a press conference after the meeting. The new chairman plans to redefine the image of the party that he says has been defined by Democrats and the media.
“It’s time for something completely different and we are going to bring it to them,” he said. “This is a new moment for our party.”
Steele is now the primary face of the Republican party and must not only help Republicans win across the country but also push back against Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama.
When asked what message he had for President Obama who campaigned against him in 2006, Steele said, “It’s going to be an honor to spar with him, and I would follow that up with ‘How do you like me now?’”
Steele and Republican leaders made no effort to signal a change in policy or ideological tilt. Instead, Steele and other Republican leaders emphasized spreading their current principles to “every corner of the country”
In trying to counter the Democrat’s 50-state strategy, Steele plans to rely on state parties and grassroots efforts.
“Get ready to work,” he told Republicans up and down the hierarchy. “We have a party to build.”
–Michael Szeto
Friday, January 30, 2009
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