Michael Steele in peculiar position
Raynard Jackson/Guest Columnist
Issue date: 2/15/09 Section: Politics
The past three weeks I have been a witness to history that I never dreamed I would see. I was at Obama's swearing in on January 20th. Then last week I watched as Michael Steele was elected as the new and first Black chairman of the Republican National Committee. The powers of the two offices are not comparable, but their significance is.
I have known Michael Steele for many, many years and consider him to be a friend. I have watched him persevere through many ups and downs. His will to succeed is unquestioned. Becoming chairman was the easy part.
Managing people's expectations of him and his chairmanship is the more difficult task. Black Republicans are going to expect him to right all the wrongs in the party when it comes to their participation. Whites are going to expect him to be colorblind.
Please keep in mind that Steele is basically the chief executive officer of the Republican Party and has to report to its 168-member board of directors, consisting of the national committee and state party chairs from all 50 states and territories.
There is a difference between having the title of chairman and having the authority of chairman. Steele is very, very good on TV and radio. He is also a great communicator (notice that I didn't use the term "articulate"). He will definitely be a great messenger for the party. But, the question is not the messenger, but the message.
Steele is not the Black chairman of the party. He is chairman of the party! But, they are not mutually exclusive. The main reason he won the race for chairman is the party needed a fresh face and a good communicator. On that basis, Steele was far and away the best candidate. But, there is another reason that you won't hear discussed in polite company. The Obama effect.
Republicans were terrified of having a White party chairman criticizing the first Black president of the U.S. This is a silly argument if the criticisms were based on issues, not innuendo ("palling around with terrorist"). This was the sentiment expressed to me by several members of the national committee after Steele's election.
I have known Michael Steele for many, many years and consider him to be a friend. I have watched him persevere through many ups and downs. His will to succeed is unquestioned. Becoming chairman was the easy part.
Managing people's expectations of him and his chairmanship is the more difficult task. Black Republicans are going to expect him to right all the wrongs in the party when it comes to their participation. Whites are going to expect him to be colorblind.
Please keep in mind that Steele is basically the chief executive officer of the Republican Party and has to report to its 168-member board of directors, consisting of the national committee and state party chairs from all 50 states and territories.
There is a difference between having the title of chairman and having the authority of chairman. Steele is very, very good on TV and radio. He is also a great communicator (notice that I didn't use the term "articulate"). He will definitely be a great messenger for the party. But, the question is not the messenger, but the message.
Steele is not the Black chairman of the party. He is chairman of the party! But, they are not mutually exclusive. The main reason he won the race for chairman is the party needed a fresh face and a good communicator. On that basis, Steele was far and away the best candidate. But, there is another reason that you won't hear discussed in polite company. The Obama effect.
Republicans were terrified of having a White party chairman criticizing the first Black president of the U.S. This is a silly argument if the criticisms were based on issues, not innuendo ("palling around with terrorist"). This was the sentiment expressed to me by several members of the national committee after Steele's election.
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