(baltimoresun).Michael S. Steele completed his first 100 days as Republican national chairman this weekend, but the party let the milestone pass without notice.
Steele made history in January as the first African-American to head the Republican National Committee.
Now, as the RNC prepares to hold a rare, special meeting later this month in the same Maryland county where he began his political rise, Steele's standing as a national leader may be on the line. He plans to deliver a major speech at the party gathering, which could relaunch his chairmanship and stop him from sliding into irrelevance and becoming little more than an object of ridicule for his enemies.
"There were some bumps out of the gate, obviously, which everyone acknowledged, including him," said media consultant Curt Anderson, a close adviser.
He said Steele won't change an often outlandish speaking style, which seems intended to freshen the party's stiff image and make it more appealing to younger voters and minorities. Recently, Steele accused defecting Sen. Arlen Specter of having "flip(ped) the bird" to his Republican colleagues, a remark some found offensive. On a radio show last week, he dismissed President Obama's desire to nominate a Supreme Court justice who displays empathy as "crazy nonsense," adding, "I'll give you empathy. Empathize right on your behind."
"He's going to be a colorful guy," Anderson said. "People who are hoping that he's now going to be really boring and not quotable are out of luck."
But, he added, Steele has learned from his mistakes and is "beginning to hit his stride."
"The party has got a long ways to come back, to earn our way back with the American people," said RNC member Henry Barbour from Mississippi, a nephew of Haley Barbour, who went from Republican national chairman to governor of the state. "I think Michael can get us there. If he's not successful, the party's not successful."
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