My younger son … he now says that he would like to be black… Black is in.
(Larry King on his program Larry King Live, January 21, 2009)
As ridiculous and naïve as Larry King’s assertion is, it has merit in the context of American politics. After all, there’s no denying that, but for the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States, the Republican National Committee (RNC) would not have elected Michael Steele yesterday as its first black chairman.
Never mind that the historic nature of his election is somewhat undermined by the fact that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) elected its first black chairman, Ron Brown, 20 years ago.
Nevertheless, let me hasten to note that Steele, a respected lawyer and former lieutenant governor of Maryland, is every bit as qualified to lead the RNC as Obama is to lead the United States. Moreover, no matter its monkey-see-monkey-do outcome, electing Steele was a shrewd political move.
We’re going to say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us, and for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over.
(Steele in his acceptance speech)
This is not to say, however, that Republicans are just hoping Steele will help them draw hordes of black voters into their tent. After all, with Obama as president, they know they don’t have a prayer in this respect.
Rather, I suspect they recognize that he possesses many of the same cross-cultural and transformative qualities that make Obama such an appealing politician: articulate, informed, telegenic, “non-threatening” … and non-white. Specifically, Steele is bound to have a far greater appeal than any of his white predecessors to Hispanics, gays, politically conservative women, and, yes, even blacks (especially Christian fundamentalists).
In fact, nothing demonstrates his broad and consensus-building appeal quite like the fact that Steele was elected by defeating the incumbent party chief and three other challengers over six rounds of voting.
Accordingly, iPINIONS proudly congratulates him on his election. And I wish Steele (and the RNC) well….
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deborah christ says
Maybe you could update this? Hey, you are usually ‘right on’ about most subjects. So far I only question your stance on Global warming, and yes you tried to set me straight on that. Still disagree however. Not feeling any respect for Mr. Steele and his comments about the defination of a job actually made my head hurt. It reminded me of the time Sarah fist winked during the debates. Time stood still for me and then I picked by jaw up off the ground and continued on with my day. But you know it is hard to forget words and actions like those.
All the best to you and yours,
Deborah
from the Depressed State of Michigan…are we having fun yet?