Steele to Obama: 'How do you like me now?'
Michael Steele emerged victorious in the election for chairman of the Republican National Committee Friday, and proclaimed a fresh start for a party that faces a long road back to political power.
“This is the dawn of a new party,” Steele said at a press conference following his victory. “There is not one inch of ground we’re going to cede to anybody.”
Steele, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, is the first African American to win the office of RNC chairman.
He vowed to dispel public perceptions that the GOP is “a party unconcerned about minorities, a party that’s unconcerned about the lives and dreams of average Americans.”
“For so long we’ve allowed the Democrats to define us. We’ve allowed the media to define us,” he said. “And so it’s important for us to be able to establish with clarity what we believe.”
Steele also had a message for President Barack Obama, who stumped for his opponent during his unsuccessful 2006 Senate campaign.
“I would say to the new president, congratulations. It is going to be an honor to spar with him,” Steele said. “And I would follow that up with: How do you like me now?”
The former Senate candidate’s election was greeted enthusiastically by members of the RNC. But his victory only came at the end of a tense, six-ballot election that ultimately became a contest between Steele and South Carolina Republican Party Chair Katon Dawson.
Steele and Dawson, who placed second and third, respectively, on the first ballot, rocketed to the top of the candidate field after incumbent RNC Chair Mike Duncan announced his withdrawal from the race following the third round of voting.
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