In damage control mode, Republican National Comittee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele on Saturday sought to quell the furor over his management of the RNC by acknowledging errors and promising to learn from them.
Saturday’s speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference was Steele’s first public appearance since the disclosure of questionable spending — including a US$2,000 tab at a sex-themed California night club — resulted in top advisers cutting ties with him and North Carolina’s state party chief calling for his resignation.
“I’m the first here to admit that I’ve made mistakes and it’s been incumbent on me to take responsibility to shoulder that burden, make the necessary changes and move on,” Steele told Republican activists and party leaders, drawing a standing ovation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Outspoken and brassy, Steele is not a traditional buttoned-down Republican chairman and he’s been a target of criticism since he was elected last year. The complaints reached a fever pitch over the past week, causing both embarrassment and distraction for a Republican Party looking to take advantage of a troubling political environment for Democrats ahead of this fall’s midterm elections.
“The one mistake we cannot make this November is to lose,” he said as the crowd cheered in agreement.
Normally a bombastic showman, Steele struck a contrite tone before the supportive audience in the half-full hotel ballroom. He did not address the specific complaints, and even though he acknowledged his errors, he also blamed others.
“We can’t coast into the majority, nor can we assume it’s a sure thing. The liberal media are looking for any possible alternative narrative to tell,” Steele said. “They are looking for those distractions and Lord knows I’ve provided a few.”
“The Democrats also know that they have some explaining to do, and they’d love nothing more than for us to keep pointing fingers,” he said.
Still, for all the angst in the party over Steele, it’s unlikely he will be fired. Ousting a chairman is a complicated, messy process that requires votes of two-thirds of the 168-member RNC, and, while there are both hard-core Steele opponents and fierce Steele allies, several Republican officials at the New Orleans conference said that most committee members and party chairman simply seem to want to move on from the controversy so Republicans can focus on November.
Attended by roughly 3,000 Republican activists and party leaders, the three-day conference wrapped up on Saturday with speeches by prominent Republicans considering running for president in 2012 against US President Barack Obama.
Conference attendees voted in a “straw poll” for their top 2012 choice; the results were hardly predictive and meant little. Many Republicans considering a bid were left off the list while others like Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour asked that their names not be included.
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney didn’t attend the conference, but won by a single vote over Texas Representative Ron Paul, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
Those who gave speeches downplayed talk of the next presidential election.
“We have got to stay focused on the election of 2010. Don’t worry about 2012 ... We can’t wait until 2012 to start taking our country back,” Barbour told the crowd.
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