Steele Determination

February 5, 2009

by Raynard Jackson

The past three weeks I have been a witness to history that I never dreamed I would see. I was at Obama’s swearing in on January 20th. Then last week I watched the election of Michael Steele to be the first Black and new chairman of the Republican National Committee. The power of the two offices are not comparable, but their significance is.

I have known Michael Steele for many, many years and consider him to be a friend. I have watched him persevere through many ups and downs. His will to succeed is unquestioned. Becoming chairman was the easy part.

Managing people’s expectations of him and his chairmanship is the more difficult task. Black Republicans are going to expect him to right all the wrongs in the party when it comes to their participation. Whites are going to expect him to be colorblind.

Please keep in mind that Steele is basically the chief executive officer of the Republican Party and has to report to its 168 member board of directors (they consist of the national committeemen/women and state party chairs from all 50 states and territories).

There is a difference between having the title of chairman and having the authority of chairman. Steele is very, very good on TV and radio. He is also a great communicator (notice that I didn’t use the term “articulate”). He will definitely be a great messenger for the party. But, the question is not the messenger, but the message.

Steele is not the Black chairman of the party. He is chairman of the party! But, they are not mutually exclusive. The main reason he won the race for chairman is the party needed a fresh face and a good communicator. On that basis, Steele was far and away the best candidate. But, there is another reason that you won’t hear discussed in polite company. The Obama effect.

Republicans were terrified of having a white party chairman criticizing the first Black president of the U.S. This is a silly argument if the criticisms were based on issues, not innuendo (“palling around with terrorist”). This was the sentiment expressed to me by several members of the national committee after Steele’s election.

I understand the political realities of this thinking, but the visual of Steele criticizing our first Black president makes me a little uncomfortable. Even if it is done totally on the issues. This is the PR side of me. Steele has to be extremely careful of how he navigates between the Black and white worlds of Republican politics.

The first true sign of how Steele will handle this dilemma will be who he hires on his personal staff and those in key positions within the committee. Will any of the top positions be filled with a Black person(s)? Positions like chief of staff, political director, press secretary, or finance director.

If the answer is no, then my greatest fear will have been realized. If the answer is yes, will Steele give them the authority (budgetary and hiring) to do what needs to be done. Just like many think Steel is a fresh face and voice for the party, he has to bring fresh faces and voices to the committee’s staff. Typically Blacks have been left out of these positions and never given any consideration.

Will a new face truly bring new ideas and approaches inside the committee’s power structure? Will Steele call the party out when they use race baiting and race politics? Or will he try to be diplomatic or excuse their use?

Though he is chairman of the national party, he has an obligation to speak directly to Black Republicans about their role and future in the party in very specific terms.