| Michael Steele | |
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Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American politician who served as the first African American chairman of the Republican National Committee from January 2009 until January 2011.From 2003 to 2007, he was the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, the first African American elected to statewide office in Maryland. During his time as Lieutenant Governor, he chaired the Minority Business Enterprise taskforce, actively promoting an expansion of affirmative action in the corporate world.
In 2006, Steele made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, losing to Democrat Ben Cardin. He then served as chairman of GOPAC, the political training organization of the Republican party, was a political commentator for Fox News and a partner at the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf before making his bid for RNC Chairman. He co-founded the Republican Leadership Council, a "fiscally conservative and socially inclusive" political action committee, in 1993. On December 13, 2010, he announced his intentions to seek a second term as Republican National Committee Chair. On January 14, 2011, after four rounds of voting, Steele dropped out of the race and endorsed Maria Cino. Reince Priebus went on to win the election to succeed Steele.
See also
Steele was born on October 19, 1958 at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, Maryland and was adopted as an infant by William and Maebell Steele. William died in 1962. Maebell, who had been born into a sharecropping family in South Carolina, worked for minimum wage as a laundress to raise her children. After Michael's father died, she ignored her friends' appeals to apply for public assistance, later telling Michael 'I didn't want the government raising my children'. She later married John Turner, a truck driver. Michael and his sister, Monica Turner, were raised in the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest Washington, D.C. which Steele has described as a small, stable and racially integrated community that insulated him from some of the problems elsewhere in the city. Steele's sister later married and divorced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.
Steele attended Archbishop Carroll Roman Catholic High School in Washington, D.C., participating in the Glee Club, the National Honor Society and many of the school's drama productions. During his senior year, he was elected student council president.
In 1977, Steele enrolled at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where he received a bachelor's degree in international studies.
Steele then spent three years preparing for the Catholic priesthood at the Augustinian Friars Seminary at Villanova University, teaching high school classes in world history and economics for one year at Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern, Pennsylvania. He left the seminary prior to ordination.
He then enrolled at the Georgetown University Law Center, attending classes at night and receiving his Juris Doctor in 1991. He failed the Maryland bar exam, but then passed the Pennsylvania bar exam.
Steele was employed as a corporate securities associate at the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. From 1991 to 1997, he specialized in financial investments for Wall Street underwriters, working at Cleary's Tokyo, Japan office on major product liability litigation and at its London office on corporate matters. He left the law firm and founded the Steele Group, a business and legal consulting firm.
Political development
After joining the Republican Party, he became chairman of the Prince George's County Republican Central Committee. He was a founding member of the centrist, fiscally conservative and socially inclusive Republican Leadership Council in 1993 but left in 2008 citing disagreements over endorsing primary candidates, though detractors contend that his departure was a politically convenient effort to boost his chances of becoming the RNC chair. In 1995, the Maryland Republican Party selected him as their Republican Man of the Year. He worked on several political campaigns, was an Alternate Delegate to the 1996 Republican National Convention and a Delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.
In December 2000, he was elected chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, becoming the first African American ever to be elected chairman of any state Republican Party.
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
In 2002, Robert Ehrlich, who was running for Maryland Governor, selected Steele as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor. The campaign was waged against Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who was running for Governor and Charles R. Larson who was running for Lieutenant Governor.
Steele resigned his chairmanship of the Maryland Republican Party to campaign full-time. The Baltimore Sun praised Townsend's running mate, Larson, for his experience and expertise, stating that: "state GOP chairman Michael S. Steele, brings little to the team but the color of his skin."
In the September primary election, Ehrlich and Steele had no serious opposition. In the November 2002 general election, the Republican Ehrlich-Steele ticket won, 51 percent to 48 percent even though Maryland traditionally votes Democratic and had not elected a Republican Governor in almost 40 years. The Townsend-Larson campaign had been tainted by outgoing Democratic governor Parris Glendening's marital problems and backlash due to his strict enforcement of environmental regulations. During the election, Townsend was also criticized for her choice of running mate; she picked retired Admiral Charles R. Larson, a novice politician who had switched parties only a few weeks before.
Steele's most prominent efforts for the Ehrlich administration were reforming the state's Minority Business Enterprise program and chairing the Governor's Commission on Quality Education in Maryland. Steele garnered criticism for his failure to oppose Ehrlich's reinstitution of the death penalty, despite claims of racial inequities in the use of the death penalty, Steele's own religious beliefs and his prior anti-death penalty pronouncements.
In 2005, Steele was named an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership and was awarded the Bethune-DuBois Institute Award for his continuing efforts to improve the quality education in Maryland.
At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Steele gave the Republican counterpoint to Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address; it was Steele's first major national exposure. In April 2005, President Bush chose him to be a member of the U.S. delegation at the investiture of Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City.
Oreo cookie incident
After a September 26, 2002 gubernatorial debate that had included the candidates for lieutenant governor, Paul Schurick, Ehrlich's communications manager, claimed that the Kathleen Kennedy Townsend campaign had handed out Oreo cookies to the audience. Five days later, Steele said that one or more Oreo cookies had rolled to his feet during the debate suggesting a racist statement against him, that of being black on the outside and white on the inside like an Oreo. "Maybe it was just someone having their snack, but it was there," Steele said. "If it happened, shame on them if they are that immature and that threatened by me." More than three years after the debate, when Steele was running for the U.S. Senate, Schurick claimed "It was raining Oreos... They were thick in the air like locusts. I was there. It was very real. It wasn't subtle." In a November 2005 Hannity and Colmes appearance, Steele agreed with Hannity that cookies were thrown at him during the September 2002 debate. Neil Duke of the Baltimore NAACP, who moderated the debate, praised the "passionate audience" and noted that "derisive behavior" had occurred. but did not see Oreo-throwing. "Were there some goofballs sitting in [the] right-hand corner section tossing cookies amongst themselves and acting like sophomores, as the legend has it?" Duke said. "I have no reason to doubt those sources; I just didn't see it." The operations manager of the building where the debate was held, interviewed three years after the event by The Baltimore Sun, disputed Steele's claim and said "I was in on the cleanup, and we found no cookies or anything else abnormal. There were no Oreo cookies thrown."Some eyewitnesses, including AP reporter Tom Stuckey and Project 21 representative Kevin Martin, have said cookies were handed out and thrown. Other eyewitnesses, however, did not corroborate that claim.
2006 campaign for U.S. Senate
United States Senate election in Maryland, 2006
When Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest-serving United States Senator, announced in March 2005 that he would not be a candidate for re-election in 2006, top state and national Republican officials began pressing Steele to become their party's nominee for the seat. In April 2005, The Baltimore Sun announced the results of a poll it conducted, stating that Steele would run statistically neck and neck against either former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume, or Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore County. Steele formally announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on October 25, 2005.
Steele lost the general election to Cardin on November 7, 2006,44 percent to Cardin's 55 percent. Steele's former campaign finance chairman later alleged improprieties in Steele's handling of campaign funds, which Steele denied.
After the Senate race
One day after Steele conceded defeat in the Senate election, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reported that Steele was hoping to succeed Ken Mehlman as the chairman of the Republican National Committee.Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, who had the endorsement of President George W. Bush, got the position.
In February 2007, Steele became chairman of GOPAC, a political action committee that helps fund state and local Republican campaigns around the country and is responsible for training future Republican candidates. He succeeded former U.S. Congressman J.C. Watts, a fellow black Republican. In April 2007, Steele joined the international law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, as a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.
At a speech given at the Media Research Center's 2007 DisHonors Awards Gala, Steele said:
“ I get a question all the time, 'Are you going to run again for office?' And I've thought about that, and I've come to realize that there's still some Democrats out there that I haven't ticked off yet. So, yeah, we're gonna do it again. We're gonna do it again, and all I have to say is, they haven't seen anything yet.”
Steele is considered a possible candidate for Governor of Maryland in the future, and has said he's "intrigued by the idea". He has said that he will not run for President in 2012.
Steele appeared several times on HBO's political show Real Time with Bill Maher, and was on Comedy Central's talk show The Colbert Report on January 23, 2007. He also hosted a PBS Republican Primary debate in Baltimore, Maryland on September 27, 2007.
He coined the phrase "Drill Baby Drill" during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota, where he promoted offshore drilling as an alternative to dependency on foreign oil.
RNC Chairman
Election
2009 Republican National Committee chairmanship election
On November 24, 2008 Steele launched his campaign for the RNC chairmanship with the launching of his website. On January 30, 2009, Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77. Steele, the Republican Party's first African American chief, was selected in the aftermath of President Obama's election, when many in the GOP saw him as a charismatic counter to the first black president.
2008 RNC Chairman Vote
Source: CQPolitics, and Poll Pundit
Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6
Michael Steele 46 48 51 60 79 91
Katon Dawson 28 29 34 62 69 77
Saul Anuzis 22 24 24 31 20 Withdrew
Ken Blackwell 20 19 15 15 Withdrew
Mike Duncan 52 48 44 Withdrew
Candidate won that Round of voting
Candidate withdrew
Candidate won RNC Chairmanship
Leadership dispute with Rush Limbaugh
On March 1, 2009 in response to a question on CBS's Face the Nation as to who spoke for the Republican Party, President Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said it was Rush Limbaugh be toocause "whenever a Republican criticizes [Limbaugh], they have to run back and apologize to him, and say they were misunderstood. He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. And he has been upfront about what he views, and hasn't stepped back from that, which is he hopes for [President Obama's] failure. He said it. And I compliment him for his honesty, but that's their philosophy that is enunciated by Rush Limbaugh."
In remarks aired by the CNN program D.L. Hughley Breaks the News on March 1, 2009, Steele said he, rather than Limbaugh, is "the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly." On March 2, 2009 Limbaugh said on his radio show that Steele is not fit to lead the Republican Party, asking of him "Why do you claim to lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds?" After the show Steele called Limbaugh to apologize, saying "I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership. I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren't what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he's not." Steele later issued another statement to say that Limbaugh "is a national conservative leader, and in no way do I want to diminish his voice. I truly apologize."
Criticisms
On March 4, 2009, Politico reported that "key party leaders are worried that the GOP has made a costly mistake" in electing Steele. They cited his leadership dispute with Limbaugh; a willingness to support other Republicans in primaries against the three Republican senators (Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Arlen Specter) who voted in favor of the stimulus package; an offering of "some slum love" to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, his calling civil unions "crazy"; his common usage of hip hop slang; and reaching out to "one-armed midgets".Ada Fisher, "one of a handful of black Republican National Committee members and a persistent critic of Mr. Steele's, called on him to resign, arguing in an e-mail message to the entire committee that he 'makes us frankly appear to many blacks as quite foolish'", according to The New York Times on March 7, 2009. The article nonetheless concluded that "a mass revolt by members ... so far seems unlikely."
Abortion
On March 12, 2009, GQ published an interview in which Steele said abortion is "absolutely... an individual choice", to be decided at the state level. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, the Christian Coalition, and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council criticized Steele's remarks. In response to his GOP critics, Steele told Gentleman's Quarterly, "I ask God, 'Hey, let me show just a little bit of love, so I absolutely don't go out and kick this person's ass'".
Roy Blunt
In August 2009, Steele drew the ire of many Republicans after he apparently agreed with conservative talk radio host Vincent David Jericho's harsh criticism of Republican Missouri Representative Roy Blunt, stating: "I agree with you. And when stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out." Steele did not specifically defend Blunt or other Republican leaders from Jericho's criticism during the interview. Blunt's former chief of staff, Gregg Hartley, referred to Steele as "an idiot" and stated that he would contribute to "the effort to oust" Steele. Hartley later said Steele should apologize to Blunt and resign. Jericho said in an interview that he did not interpret Steele's comments as being specific to anyone.
Town hall meeting
On September 1, 2009, Steele drew considerable criticism when holding a town hall meeting at Howard University. He was starting to discuss health care when a young woman got up and shouted, "My mother died of cancer six months ago because she could only afford three of her six prescription chemotherapy medications. There are 50 million people in this country who could end up like my mom, suffering or dying because they do not have adequate health care. Everyone in this room and everyone in this country should have access to good healthcare." In response, Steele "admonish [her] for raising her voice, [insisted] that that he too supported healthcare for all, raised his fists in imitation of protesters and said, 'When people go out to town halls, they go out to the community, and they're like this. It makes for great TV. You'll probably make it tonight. Enjoy it.'"
Joint session
Steele referred to a letter written by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, which President Barack Obama had read as part of an address to joint session of Congress, as a "political tool". This drew criticism from DCCC chairman Chris Van Hollen, who referred to Steele's comments as "outlandish".
Spending
On December 22, 2009, the Washington Times reported that Steele was using his position as RNC chair to personally profit by charging fees for speeches and appearance of up to $20,000 (plus expenses for first class travel), and that this was an unusual and perhaps an unprecedented practice. Three former party chairmen, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., Jim Nicholson, and Richard Bond voiced strong disapproval of Steele saying variously that making speeches for free was part of the job of RNC chair, and that taking money gave the "appearance of impropriety". Steele's office responded that he was following all the RNC rules, and was committed full time to his job. The RNC's attorney said that Steele was not violating the rules, but would not say whether Steele had consulted him regarding the speeches for pay.
The head of the North Carolina Republican Party, Tom Fetzer, has called for Steele to resign. Fetzer said Steele's resignation is "the only way to end scrutiny of the national party over lavish spending and ensure Republicans maximize gains during the mid-term elections."
Steele has been under fire from GOP activists for his lavish spending, but he told them that he has accepted responsibility for his mistakes and is ready to move on.Republican National Committee treasurer Randy Pullen has accused Steele and his chief of staff, Michael Levitt, of attempting to conceal some $7 million in debt from the Federal Elections Commission, which could lead to the RNC being fined.
Afghanistan war
In July 2010, neoconservative author William Kristol called for Steele to resign following comments Steele made opposing an expanded "land war" in Afghanistan. Steele said the Afghan war was "a war of Obama's choosing" and "not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in." The War in Afghanistan was initiated by George W. Bush in October 2001 in retaliation for the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. and Barack Obama has increased troop levels there since taking office. Former Bush adviser Karl Rove referred to Steele's comment as "boneheaded". John McCain, Arizona Senator and Republican nominee for president in the 2008 election, withdrew his support from Steele, calling Steele's comments "wildly inaccurate... there is no excuse for them", saying "I think that Mr. Steele is going to have to assess as to whether he can still lead the Republican Party as chairman of the Republican National Committee." McCain's comments have been echoed by Senator Jim DeMint, who said Steele should "apologise to our military, all the men and women who've been fighting in Afghanistan" and Senator Lindsey Graham who said "It was an uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely comment. This is not President Obama's war, this is America's war. We need to stand behind the president." Former Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Elizabeth Cheney has also called for Steele to resign. Congressman Ron Paul, who is known for his generally antiwar stance, has come out in support of Steele, however, saying "Michael Steele has it right, and Republicans should stick by him." Ann Coulter also supported the notion that it's now Obama's war, citing Democratic rhetoric that Afghanistan was "the good war" and a "war of necessity." She also pointed out that the "entire seven-year course of the Afghanistan war under Bush, from October 2001 to January 2009, 625 American soldiers were killed. In 18 short months, Obama has nearly doubled that number to 1,124 Americans killed."
Re-election campaign
Main article: 2011 Republican National Committee chairmanship election
In December 2010, Steele declared that he would run for re-election as RNC chair.
At the 2011 RNC Winter Meeting in Baltimore, Steele withdrew from the chairperson race after the fourth ballot, urging his supporters to vote for Maria Cino.
Political positions
Abortion
Steele is opposed to abortion. He has said he thinks Roe v. Wade was "wrongly decided" and "should be overturned."Steele was endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee during his run for Senate in 2006. In a March 2009 GQ interview, after stating that abortion is "an individual choice", Steele followed up with the assertion that "[t]he individual choice rests in the states" and is a decision "[t]he states should make...." In the same interview, Steele stated that he "absolutely" believes there is room for a "pro-choice" candidate in the GOP.
Affirmative Action
As Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Steele committed $70 million in grants and loan guarantees for small and minority-owned businesses. "Studies show enormous disparities still exist in education, healthcare, employment and economic opportunities along racial lines in the United States. I believe programs are still necessary to help close these divides. I support giving people opportunities. Programs must be fair to all Marylanders – of every color – and they should focus on economic empowerment." ... "We're just beginning to rediscover what we should be doing with affirmative action. Don't look at our universities. We got that. Let's look at our boardrooms, let's look at the management structure."
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