Republican Chair Michael Steele Apologizes To Limbaugh, Returning Fat, Old, White Men As The Face Of the GOP

The Republican National Committee (RNC) two months ago names an African American man, Michael Steele, as head of his party. After serious losses in the last two national elections, it is obvious that the Republican Party (GOP) is trying to be sensitive to a changing and more "inclusive" United States.

But just when you thought it was good to jump back into the murky waters of the Republican Party, out jumps an old familiar shark... talk show host, drug smuggler and addict Rush Limbaugh. Rush goes after Mr. Steele, and Steele is the one who apologises. What did Steele apologize for? Check Under the Hood.

Now America knows once again why people of color aren't feeling the GOP and why Michael Steele is no Barack Obama.



What started this all off was Rush Limbaugh having the audacity to announce on national radio, 'I hope he (Barack Obama) fails.' and then he repeated it as keynote speaker this weekend at the at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). As expected this set off comments from Democrats. What was not expected though, were continued comments from highly visible Republicans, like financial analyst and fellow talk show host Bob Brinker, ("There are those who wish to do our country harm and are unAmerican as they wish failure on this president"). And then came comments from Republican National Committee Chair, Michael Steele while on D.L. Hughley's CNN show Saturday, Rush is ... an entertainer whose show is, quote, "incendiary and ugly.".

Monday Rush then came back after Steele on his radio show. Putting Steele on notice that he (Steele)was "Chair of the Republican National Committee and not Chair of The Republican Party. That Steele really needed to change his own rhetoric and basically not to just mouth Democratic views. "For this reason Michael Steele is having a hard time getting anyone to pick up his phone calls when trying to fundraise for the party."

Last night, Steele told Politico that he hadn't meant to slight Limbaugh by calling him an "entertainer" whose rhetoric could be "incendiary" and "ugly,"and actual called Limbaugh a "leader" in the Republican Party. He conveyed this apology to all who would listen and or print it.

All the while Democrats all over are just loving this family squabble and the prospect of the polarizing Rush being the face of the Republican Party. Democratic National Committee Chair, Tim Kaine issued a statement that Limbaugh is, in fact, the GOP's leader--a notion Steele has had to refute publicly twice in the past three days.

"Chairman Steele's reversal this evening and his apology to Limbaugh proves the unfortunate point that Limbaugh is the leading force behind the Republican Party, its politics and its obstruction of President Obama's agenda in Washington," Kaine said, in a statement issued by the DNC press office last night.



Finally I thought it might be interesting to go back to Michael Steele acceptance speech when he was elected Chair of the RNC, "We’ve been misidentified as a party that doesn’t care, a party that is insensitive, a party that is unconcerned about minorities,” he said, adding, “Nothing can be further from the truth.”

He also said “the Republican Party had been unfairly caricatured by Democrats “and the media” as racist and insensitive to the needs of ordinary Americans” and, “in deliberations that stretched over nearly five hours and six ballots, Republicans suggested that they saw selecting an African-American chairman as helpful in redefining the party’s image.”

Well "man of Steele" take one giant step back because you have lost your party changing super powers to Kryptonite Rush Limbaugh.

GOP Chair Michael Steele's Hip Hop Nation is Too Black For Blacks

In this weeks Washington Times the newly elected Republican Party Chair, Michael Steele announced changes needed in the Republican Party: To quote: "We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles but we want to apply them to urban-suburban hip-hop settings.” he goes on to say, " “It will be avant-garde, technically. It will come to the table with things that will surprise everyone—'off the hook.'... not cutting edge but beyond cutting edge."

OK, slow your roll Michael, because if you had not noticed, candidate Barack Obama was Black but in no way did he preach a sermon of "get-down", "jiggy and fa shizzle" to American voters. In fact Obama being competent and visionary is not only what attracted White America but these things made Black Americans proud. Wake up GOP, Black folks are and have always been attracted to class acts.

36 Reasons Republicans Need More Blacks In The Party

Where My People At????

Former Md. lieutenant governor Michael Steele is only one of 36 black delegates at the Republican convention here — less than 2% of the total and a sharp drop-off from 2004, a black think tank reports.

Nevermind a pregnancy that the McCain/Palin campaign clearly wanted to hide (note the 17-year-old at Friday's press conference being strategically covered by a baby and matching nursing bib), this is the real controversy!

The Democratic Party, which has targets for minority representation, said a record 24.5% of delegates at its convention last week were black. That's about twice the percentage of blacks in the U.S. population, according to the Census. The GOP set a record with 6.7% black delegates in 2004.

Republican convention officials did not respond to several requests for comment on the report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

The center said Republican John McCain likely will end up with a historically low share of the black vote despite his outreach to groups such as the National Urban League and the NAACP.

The chief reasons, the group said, are Democratic nominee Barack Obama's enormous appeal to black voters and McCain's "association with President Bush, an exceptionally unpopular figure" among blacks.

The report said McCain also is hurt because his home state of Arizona has few blacks and there are no well-known black elected officials to make his case.

GOPAC chairman Michael Steele, whose group helps elect Republicans to state and local office, said the black community "has to get out of the mind-set that anything the Republican Party says is bad for them."

But Steele, who is black, also said that "black folks aren't going to flock to the GOP unless they have something to flock to." He urged his party to stop superficial "outreach" programs and start building coalitions and relationships with black voters.

One black convention delegate, Robert Smith of Little Rock, said he was amused but not surprised at the tiny number of blacks. He said he is on a personal mission to win back blacks he says are "voting for Barack Obama out of ethnicity rather than principle." If he's successful, he said, "this will be the last time you see so few" blacks at a GOP convention.

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