Out of 168 ballots, 91 went for Michael
Steele; he needed 85 to win.
No, this milestone does not in any way
rival that of America's first African American president, but the
election of Michael Steele by the Republican Party, which won just 4%
of the black vote in the recent president elections should not be
regarded as insignificant.
Contrary to hateful leftist rants
calling Mr. Steele the real "magic Negro", I think the
Republicans could have put in place a foundation to build on. After
all, the Republican Party is still the "party of Lincoln",
the emancipator of black slaves on New Year's Day 1863.
From his position as Maryland's former
Lt. Governor to his underdog senate race in 2006, Michael Steele has
shown himself to be an excellent communicator, who understands how to
play the news media, a skill which has dodged recent Republican
leaders. While he is not a great orator like Obama, Steele knows how
to get his point across in a cordial and clear manner. He has been a
regular face on leading media outlets, including Fox News, MSNBC,
CNN, among others. The RNC definitely needs someone who knows how to
communicate, not only with the media, but with the economic
underclass of America.
What must be frustrating for
Republicans is that they share the moral values of most African
Americans and Hispanics, when it comes to issues like religion,
abortion, and family (e.g. homosexuality). Yet the party finds it
difficult to attract and hold so-called minority voters. If Mr.
Steele can solve this conundrum, then he will become just what the
doctor ordered for the Republicans.
While I congrat Mr. Steele, Let me give
the new RNC chairman a hint: Republicans do not need to water down
their conservative values to attract black and Hispanic voters.
Rather, they need to find a way to communicate conservative moral
values in a way that shows respect, kindness, and economic compassion
for Hispanics, African Americans, as well as for lower-income whites.
If the Republican Party can close the respect and compassion gap,
then they can begin to give Democrats a run for their money for
minority voters.
Unless Michael Steele makes significant
strides towards that objective, this historic thing the RNC has done
may only be remembered as a passing "me too" or "us
too", after Democrats paraded their golden trophy known as
Barack Obama.
