by Charing Ball
President Barack Obama isn’t the only high-ranking black official gearing up for a tough fight for reelection.
Michael Steele, front man for the Republican National Committee, is jockeying hard for votes to maintain his spot as the H.R.I.C (Head Republican in Charge). According to the Daily Beast, former Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis announced Friday that he will run for the top party spot ahead of the 2012 election cycle. Citing concerns that the Republican Party might not be able to defeat Obama without a dramatic change, Azunis said that if elected, he would not try to be the “face” of the party, which some speculate is an obvious dig at Steele.
Republican insiders have cited as many as four possible contenders, who might be seeking to challenge Steele including Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus, GOP strategist Maria Cino, Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy, and Ann Wagner, the former ambassador to Luxembourg.
With this much opposition, it makes you wonder if Steele is feeling a little bit left out in the dark, pun intended, by his own political party?
Now whether or not Steele was the Grand Ole’ Party’s Anti-Obama, only elected as an excuse to show off its token black guy, is debatable. However, there are questions as to whether or not Michael Steele has achieved his agenda and is deserving enough for a second term. Let’s review Steele’s performance not based upon his race, but on his qualifications – you know, the merits, which are suppose to be forefront of the so-called Republican agenda.
When he was elected RNC Chairman in 2009, Steele said that his mission was to help drive blacks to the Republican Party by presenting a relatable and assessable image, via a hip-hop makeover of course, which was suppose to speak to the cultural experiences of the people, i.e. black folks.
However, since that time, Steele and his “Yall get out and vote Black Republican” campaign, which among other things attempted to lure black folks to the Party with the promise of fried chicken and potato salad, has failed to materialize beyond cringe-worthy blunders and awkward public stunts.
The majority of the 30 or so candidates running under the black republican moniker not only failed to capture the attention of voters in their mostly black districts but also failed largely due to the inability of the Republican Party to stomp for their campaigns.
Even Steele acknowledged that some white folks within the Party were “scared” of him and that the party in general had failed to give African-Americans a reason to vote Republican. So while it made sense for Steele to try to overcome the perception of the party in the minds of black folks, ultimately Steele couldn’t deliver because of his comrades’ inability to embrace the idea of a true, diverse Republican Party.
Not to mention, the questions surrounding his unscrupulous behavior in dealing with RNC debt including the discovery of 7.1 million in unpaid bills for telemarketing, legal consulting and discretionary spending by some of his staffers, do not help his case. With that sort of track record, it should come as no surprise that Steele might not get elected to a second term, which only proves that sometimes, it is really not all about race but actual results.
