President Obama joked that RNC Chairman Michael Steele is his “brother” at a fancy dinner in Washington over the weekend, ribbing him as having the nickname “Notorious GOP.”
The quip provoked laughter but also spotlights the delicate politics of race that have plagued Obama and Steele since both assumed power in 2009. The latest iteration came last week when Steele and DNC Chariman Tim Kaine sparred over the Democrats’ announced plan to boost turnout among minority voters to help their chances in the 2010 midterm elections.
When he took over the GOP, Steele was mocked roundly for saying he wanted to reach out to blacks and young voters by giving the Republicans a “hip-hop” makeover. He told The Washington Times then the Republicans had to find “messengers to really capture that region – young, Hispanic, black, a cross section.”
Last week Steele charged Kaine was playing the race card, an accusation that is a bit baffling since the Republican has been the one calling for a broader party to begin with. Obama seemed to enjoy that with his zinger line. “I did a similar routine last year, but it always works,” the president snarked Saturday night as the White House Correspondents Association dinner crowd roared with laughter.
When Kaine announced part of the Democratic party’s 2010 strategy would be targeting blacks and Latinos, Republicans bristled. They charged he’d played “the race card” and the conservative media followed. Steele told Hotline On Call that both parties want to engage the electorate but he has a problem when “it is done in a manner that becomes racially tinged, that seeks to invoke fear as opposed to education, that seeks to marginalize the voters into believing that you have to continue to do it the same old way, otherwise the boogeyman will get you.”
Kaine swatted back later that day, saying Steele’s charge was ridiculous.
So let’s get this straight.
Steele was criticized recently for speaking to Al Sharpton’s group. He made sure the new GOP.com showcased Republican black civil rights leaders, and he reminds reporters frequently that the GOP was co-founded by blacks including Frederick Douglass. He’s been scolded by Republican insiders for saying the GOP must be more than a party of white southerners.
“The Republican Party had a hand in forming the NAACP, and yet we have mistreated that relationship. People don’t walk away from parties, Their parties walk away from them,” Steele said at an event in Chicago last month.
He’s also met with Hispanic Republicans to call for immigration reform, CNN reported, and his spokesman told TPM he’s “100% committed” to an inclusive Republican party.
Democrats say the Steele outreach is admirable, and suggested that he only walked it back after taking heat from GOPers like Rush Limbaugh. After the dust-up last week over reaching out to minority voters, DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said Steele “deserves credit for trying to extend the reach of the Republican party.”
“It’s too bad he doesn’t have the strength to follow through on his convictions and lets the far right wing of his party and talk show personalities stop that outreach. In caving to these extremists, Steele is ensuring that the Republican party will not be a modern, national party in the future,” Sevugan said.
