Steele To Emerge From Self-Imposed Isolation

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Michael Steele will be speaking tonight to the Colorado Republican Party — his first public appearance since he stopped doing interviews amid a series of gaffes about:

• Calling Rush Limbaugh an “entertainer” whose rhetoric is “incendiary” and “ugly” — and then apologizing to Rush and praising his leadership.

• Declaring that he was “in the business of ticking people off.”

• Saying in the GQ interview that abortion is an individual choice, then quickly backing off after it was published. This one really got the base angry — for example, his former RNC rival (and then a supporter) Ken Blackwell said Steele needed to re-read the Bible.

• And just for extra comedic value, Steele said he was a fan of Frank Sinatra and the “Pack Rats.”

Dick Wadhams, the chairman of the Colorado GOP, told the Denver Post that Steele’s comments about abortion being an individual choice “have been a topic of conversation,” but that he hasn’t gotten any “angry phone calls” about it. “I think he was real quick to clarify what he said,” said Wadhams.

The question that many people will be looking out for: Will Steele end up clarifying anything he says tonight?

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