Republican officials voted Friday to elect their first black national party chairman, a response in part to election defeats that have left the party's base more white and Southern at a time when the country is growing more diverse.

The election of Michael Steele puts in the limelight a charismatic black who has championed outreach to minorities as key to the party's future. It also gives the GOP a symbolic counterbalance to President Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, as it courts minority voters and attempts to overhaul its image.
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We have an image problem," he said. "We've been mis-defined as a party that doesn't care, a party that's been insensitive, a party that's unconcerned about minorities, a party that's unconcerned about the lives and expectations and dreams of average Americans."

"We have an image problem," he said. "We've been mis-defined as a party that doesn't care, a party that's been insensitive, a party that's unconcerned about minorities, a party that's unconcerned about the lives and expectations and dreams of average Americans."

Mis-defined? The party that counted on Sarah Palin to draw Hillary Clinton's disaffected supporters, what with them both being women and all? The party that wants to keep brown people out of the country, and black people away from the voting booth? The party that blames union workers for the US auto industry's death spiral? The party whose concern with human life begins at conception and ends at birth? THAT mis-defined party?

Good luck with your sensitive, concerned party there, Mr Steele...

Can anyone say Alan Keyes? HAHAHAHA

I know - you already elected your first black PRESIDENT - BUT credit the Repubs with moving along at least.

No, Democrats NOMINATED their first black presidential candidate.

AMERICANS elected their first black president.

No, Democrats NOMINATED their first black presidential candidate.

AMERICANS elected their first black president.

The Republicans are soooo toast. They are going to be toast for a long, long time thanks to all the debt they've saddled us with, good for at least the next two generations!

Copman, seriously, are you f*cking kidding me? This is the cheapest, most transparent, desparate ploy since Sarah Palin. Please tell me you were kidding. I know you know better. The Republicans are soooo toast. They are going to be toast for a long, long time thanks to all the debt they've saddled us with, good for at least the next two generations!

Given a choice between a pro-affirmative action black man and an arguably racist white man, RNC fatcats went for the black guy, 91-77. That's a good thing. Now let's stick to making fun of the stupid things the new chairman says, such as "Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job."

The new chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, apologized to Rush Limbaugh on Monday after describing him in a television interview over the weekend as an “entertainer” who made incendiary and sometimes ugly remarks, party officials said.

Mr. Steele called Mr. Limbaugh after the radio host belittled Mr. Steele on his show, questioning his authority and saying the new Republican leader was off “to a shaky start.”
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“Mr. Steele: You are head of the R.N.C.,” Mr. Limbaugh said. “You are not head of the Republican Party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the R.N.C. and right now they want nothing to do with it.”
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Mr. Steele bristled after a questioner on CNN referred to Mr. Limbaugh as the de facto leader of the Republican Party on Saturday.

“No he’s not – I’m the de facto leader of the Republican Party,” Mr. Steele responded.

“Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer,” he said. “Rush Limbaugh, the whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it’s incendiary, yes, it’s ugly.”

Mr. Steele told Politico on Monday that he had called Mr. Limbaugh to apologize.

“My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Mr. Steele told The Politico. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.”

Who did you think would have been a better pick-

Stephen Colbert, unlike Jon Stewart, has managed to remain funny without Bush in office.

...Given the history of the tough talking GOPers, I'm surprised that Steele even bowed to the pressure...

Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday.

Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles. Steele said he used the argument weeks ago while chatting on a flight with a college student who described herself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal on issues like gay marriage.

"Now all of a sudden I've got someone who wasn't a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for," Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. "So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money."

The Republican National Committee and its chairman, Michael S. Steele, were engulfed in controversy again Monday after new financial reports showed that the party used tens of thousands of donor dollars for luxe hotels, private jets and other questionable expenditures.
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Although it is not unusual for either party to spend money in tony settings to cater to wealthy donors, the RNC's latest filings captured widespread attention for one expenditure at a risque nightclub: $1,946.25 for "meals" at Voyeur in West Hollywood, which features topless dancers wearing horse bridles and other bondage gear while mimicking sex acts.

The committee fired an unidentified staff member as a result of the disbursement and emphasized Monday that Steele had not visited the club and was not aware of the expenditure. The reimbursement went to Erik Brown, a Southern California GOP donor who has spent time with Steele in the past and whose marketing firm has earned more than $160,000 from the RNC and other Republican committees, according to campaign disclosure records.
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Steele also has come under fire for his management of the organization's finances. The RNC had more than $22 million on hand when he arrived last year, but is down to less than $10 million, despite raising a record $96 million during that time, records show.