The Emasculation Of Michael Steele
If the current media buzz is correct the Republican National Committee’s newly elected chairman, Michael Steele, is about to join the exclusive club of used and abused token blacks that Republicans have emasculated.
The feud between black Michael Steele and white powerhouse Rush Limbaugh so soon after Steele’s election is causing people to wonder who really runs the GOP. What is the fuss all about?
The Republican National Committee, in an attempt to stop the party’s headlong skid into oblivion, recently elected Michael Steele as their party chairman. It wasn’t an easy task. With five candidates vying for the position it took a total of six excruciating rounds of voting to finally anoint a chairman.
In the first round the incumbent RNC chair, Mike Duncan, took the lead over the other four contenders with a scant 6 vote margin. Steele was second.
Steele inched up in the second round tying Duncan for the lead with 48 votes. This caused a stir among the RNC members to have the most moderate candidate make such a strong early showing.
The third round balloting put Steele in the lead over Duncan by 7 votes forcing Duncan to drop out of the race. The fact that the sitting RNC chair bows out so soon in the balloting is a reflection of just how unpopular the status quo is.
Katon Dawson, the chair of the South Carolina GOP, who had been running third in previous ballots vaults into a 2 vote lead over Steele when the fourth round votes are counted.
Prior to the fifth ballot former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell drops out of the race and throws his support to Steele who at the end of the fifth round converts a 2 vote deficit into a ten vote lead over Dawson.
At this point Saul Annuzis, the Michigan GOP chair, drops out of the race leaving only Steele and Dawson as candidates on the sixth ballot. Republican party strategists became concerned about the possibility of electing Dawson, who had acknowledged his membership in a whites-only club, and the signal it would send to the country so soon after President Obama had been sworn in.
On the sixth and final ballot Michael Steele beats Katon Dawson by a vote of 91 to 77.
It is noted that the RNC charter states that a candidate must receive a simple majority of the 168 (85) votes from committee members in order to win the chairmanship. The RNC committee that elected Michael Steele as chairman had only three black members which seriously undermines the viability of the Republican initiative on outreach and diversity.
So the question arises: Why would the Republican hierarchy stand by and let this divisive infighting go on between the newly elected RNC Chairman and arch-conservative Rush Limbaugh at this critical stage in reviving the party?
It appears that Steele in doing his flip-flop over first bashing Limbaugh and then apologizing has managed to put himself in a losing position. Not only has he angered the huge GOP base that is loyal to Limbaugh but he also has disappointed the Republican change advocates who believe that a new GOP is necessary but are fearful of Rush.
Was Steele’s election as head of the GOP national committee just a sham? Perhaps, since the Republican track record is one of indulgence instead of inclusion when it comes to elevating blacks. The travails of former Republican tokens HUD Secretary Sam Pierce, Congressman J. C. Watts, and Secretary of State Colin Powell are indicative of what is in store for Michael Steele if he remains unmanageable.
The reality of GOP inclusion is that when exceptional blacks are elevated to “leadership” status they are expected to be robots that carry the GOP promise of inclusion and diversity to minorities and not be policy makers. If the anointed ones do not fall in line then they are quickly stripped of their positions.
Chairman Steele, is the face of Republicanism that you want to be representative of your tenure as the RNC’s HNIC that of a self proclaimed drug addict who prances around looking like the modern day version of a gluttonous Humpty Dumpty that delights in delivering rude and obnoxious diatribes but whines like a stuck pig when called to task?
If you still have one ounce of manhood left and a shred of integrity in your heart you should not resign. Do not make it easy for the Limbaugh zealots to declare victory. Force the RNC members who elected you to take a stand on whether their votes were real or patronizing. Take responsibility for your remarks and rescind your apology.
If you resign because of the contrived allegations being circulated then you will validate that the demagogue being characterized as the Republican Party’s de facto leader is indeed the Party’s actual leader.
Stop talking so much and do your job. You were elected as Chairman because the RNC was desperate for change. The best thing you can do at this time is to get to work, hire a competent staff, and implement the change needed to regain voter appeal. Your leadership and effectiveness will be proven by election results and not by dignifying the venom of Rush Limbaugh.
James W. Breedlove
Comments or opinions may be sent to the writer at: jaydubub@swbell.net