Hat tip to reader P. for this one. On yesterday's episode of Washington Watch on TVOne, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele (pictured standing) visited Roland Martin and they spoke about how the GOP can engage the Black voting bloc. Check out the moderate-conservative Republican's comment about his partymates. No embeddable video link (grrr...my biggest pet peeve as a blogger), but you can view the video clip here.
For those of you who can't see the video, here is Mr. Steele's response to Mr. Martin's comment that "One of the criticisms I've always had is Republicans -- white Republicans -- have been scared of black folks": "You're absolutely right. I mean I've been in the room and they've been scared of me," Mr. Steele said. "I'm like, 'I'm on your side' and so I can imagine going out there and talking to someone like you, you know, [say] 'I'll listen.' And they're like, 'Well.'"
Asked how Republicans can better reach black voters, Mr. Steele said the party needs to focus on “education and the economy” and credited Governors-elect Chris Christie in New Jersey and Bob McDonnell in Virginia for running a message that could appeal to black voters. “You saw in Christie and you saw in McDonnell a door open because they went in and engaged,” he said. “McDonnell was very deliberate about spending.” Mr. Steele specifically pointed to McDonnell, who secured the endorsement of BET founder Sheila Johnson early in his run and used her as one of his top surrogates on the campaign trail. Both GOP candidates, however, lost the black vote by landslide margins. “Sheila Johnson was on his team. I mean, that was a big deal,” Steele said. “He engaged her and she helped navigate him through that relationship.”
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