| | Steele was the first [[African American]] elected to statewide office in Maryland when he was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2002, and is the first black GOP national chairman. | | Steele was the first [[African American]] elected to statewide office in Maryland when he was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2002, and is the first black GOP national chairman. |
| − | Steele claimed to welcome conservatives and [[Tea Party Movement|Tea Partiers]] to the Republican Party, more than some [[RINO]]s and others would like. In his book, Steele compares the GOP under Bush to an alcoholic, and argues that grass-roots activism will return the party to its core conservative values of limited government, fiscal restraint and a strong national defense. He has encouraged the heated Tea Party protests that [[RINO]]s worry could lead to their own defeat. | + | Steele claimed to welcome conservatives and [[Tea Party Movement|Tea Partiers]] to the Republican Party, more than some [[RINO]]s and others would like. In his book, Steele compares the GOP under Bush to an alcoholic, and argues that grass-roots activism will return the party to its core conservative values of limited government, fiscal restraint and a strong national defense. He said he had encouraged the heated Tea Party protests, but in reality the Tea Party protests were organic and were not organized by the Republican Party at that time. |
| | Many of the criticisms of Steele involve him playing the race card with crude and vulgar profanities when defending black liberals, like [[Barack Hussein Obama]] against conservatives, like [[Mitch McConnell]]. Additionally, rather than fundraising, Steele was giving paid speeches, which sparked criticism by three former RNC chairmen. Others complained about crude and vulgar talk by Steele in his new book.<ref>Philip Rucker and Chris Cillizza, "Steele's book release, fiery rhetoric fuel dissatisfaction within GOP," [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/07/AR2010010703699.html ''Washington Post'' Jan. 9, 2010]</ref> | | Many of the criticisms of Steele involve him playing the race card with crude and vulgar profanities when defending black liberals, like [[Barack Hussein Obama]] against conservatives, like [[Mitch McConnell]]. Additionally, rather than fundraising, Steele was giving paid speeches, which sparked criticism by three former RNC chairmen. Others complained about crude and vulgar talk by Steele in his new book.<ref>Philip Rucker and Chris Cillizza, "Steele's book release, fiery rhetoric fuel dissatisfaction within GOP," [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/07/AR2010010703699.html ''Washington Post'' Jan. 9, 2010]</ref> |