Steele "plays the race card", says he and Obama have a "slimmer margin".

[jefferson_dem]

Michael Steele Says He and Obama Have Slimmer Margins of Error Because They Are African American
Embattled Republican Leader Breaks His Silence, Says He Won't Resign
By HUMA KHAN, JONATHAN KARL and POLSON KANNETH
April 5, 2010—

Embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he won't resign from his post despite calls for him to step down amid reports of the group's excessive spending, adding that he and other African-American leaders such as President Obama have a slimmer margin of error because of their race.

"The honest answer is, 'yes,'" he said on "Good Morning America" today. "Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do. It's a different role for me to play and others to play and that's just the reality of it. But you just take that as a part of the nature of it.

"My view on politics is much more grassroots oriented ... so I tend to, you know, come at it a little bit stronger, a little bit more street-wise. That's rubbed some feathers the wrong way," Steele added.

Steele is under fire by his own party members for what some people consider lavish spending -- $17,000 for private jet travel, $13,000 for limousines and car services and $9,000 for a trip to the Beverly Hills hotel. But the most controversial revelation was that RNC staffers spent nearly $2,000 at Voyeur West Hollywood, a sex-themed nightclub in Los Angeles. The employee who authorized the expense was fired, but then the RNC shot itself in the foot again later, sending a fundraising letter that mistakenly directed donors to call a phone-sex number.

Steele said the spending is being blown up "larger than it needs to be."

<SNIP>

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/michael-steele-obama-slimmer-margins-error-african-american/story?id=10283514

[DFW]

1. Steele said the spending is being blown up "larger than it needs to be." What? But Mikey!!

Have you forgotten? You guys are the party of fiscal responsibility!

Well, OK, execpt for Reagan, Bush & Bush, and.....

Oh, never mind. Go for it, and tell Tiffany and Ginger hi for us (the DNC's budget wouldn't permit us to join you).

[Kdillard]

2. There are no words to describe how much I detest Michael Steele.

He really shouldn't be allowed to bring up the President's name after everything that he personally has said about him not to mention the Republican Party. If he expects sympathy or understanding I hope none is forthcoming.

[babylonsister]

3. Drives me nuts that he even has the gall to equate anything

involving himself with the President. They are polar opposites, and he's just trying to ride some coattails. Doesn't wash with me.

[xxqqqzme]

19. And this is not the first time he has

done it. Chair of the RNC is not equal to POTUS. This interview illustrates the exact problem. His extremely overinflated perception of his power, influence and importance.

[Bitwit1234]

14. And the scags in the Maryland Panhandle came out

overwhelmingly to vote for him. Seems they like crooks also. Especially if he is a republican.

[tanyev]

4. Oh, the teabaggers are going to love that excuse.

Keep talking, Michael!

[Orsino]

5. If Steele really had a slimmer margin for error, he'd already be retired. n/t

[CTyankee]

6. "...and thank you for playing GRASPING AT STRAWS!" nt

[saltpoint]

7. I'm thinking Steele has a slimmer margin because he presides over

a party whose agenda is diametrically opposite from prevailing public interest, and also because he's an idiot.

[graywarrior]

8. Jeeze, I can't stand that asshole

[Botany]

9. "My view on politics is ..... a little bit more street-wise."

So what part of being "street wise" is pissing money away on private jets, liquor, expensive hotels,
and sex clubs?

Please I hope the RNC keeps this idiot on forever.

[Dr Morbius]

10. This is nonsense.

If anything, a white RNC chair which allowed donor money to be spent in a strip club might have been fired by now. The party is disinclined to dismiss a black chairman; it wouldn't look good.

Frankly, I hold everyone to pretty much the same standard. If you lie to me, I'm probably not going to trust you, whatever your color or gender or political persuasion. If I find you trustworthy, it probably wasn't because we agreed on something, or we shared a commonality. What kind of folk hold African-Americans to a higher standard than whites? Um, white racists, I think. Mr. Steele shows his true colors here: he's an African-American who wishes he was white, and is embarrassed by his skin color. I find him pathetic.

[Jennicut]

11. Obama never uses the race card, Steele uses it all the time.

And Obama has a reason to bring up race as many Rethugs and teabaggers hate him because he is simply our first black President. Steele is just a loose cannon and has mismanaged the RNC.

[HughMoran]

12. Big picture view - it's probably true - but it's not true for him

It's just another in a string of lame-ass excuses on his part.

[Bad Thoughts]

13. I'll cut Steele some slack

Yes, he's inept at administration and public relations.

But Republicans wanted a black marionette, not a black leader. And other Republicans would hover over him to keep him in line, just as Boehner and Cantor do to Joseph Cao whenever the House votes.

[cliffordu]

15. Feathers???

I'm thinking he's been rubbing more than feathers the wrong way....

[political_Dem]

16. When Steele is in hot water, now he wants to be Black?

This man has spent his entire career dissing his heritage. He's gone along with being used by the Republican party to show that "they aren't racist". And now he "equates" himself to being like the POTUS?

That man is incorrigible. If anything, Mr. Obama should tell him to go to hell.

That is, if he would stop trying to be nice to the Republicans for one second.

[CakeGrrl]

17. Not gonna work MC Steele...the President is light-years ahead of you

in the smarts arena.

He is not gonna co-sign your "we brothas have it tough" meme and have the Republican party descend on him in a nanosecond.

Man, do Republicans ever have a problem with accepting personal responsibility.

[rasputin1952]

18. I don't think Steele realizes that the ONLY reason he is

RNC head is because of his race. The ONLY reason McCain chose Palin was because of her gender. The ONLY reason Clarence Thomas is on the USSC is because of his race.

Those "cards" are so used they are frayed at the edges and almost unreadable.

[tomm2thumbs]

20. 'spending is being blown up "larger than it needs to be" ' like an inflatable sex doll perhaps??

oh the visuals this man is able to create!

inspiring

[SemiCharmedQuark]

21. There he goes again, trying to paint himself as the Republican Obama.