Steele: Ticking Off Limbaugh Part of My Job

Embattled RNC chairman vows to carry on reforming GOP despite criticism
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 5, 2009 1:38 AM CST
Steele: Ticking Off Limbaugh Part of My Job
Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele speaks after being elected the first black Republican National Committee chairman.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says he isn't going to let the Rush Limbaugh hooha or any other criticism stop him from remaking the GOP, the Washington Post reports. Steele, criticized by some for his loose-cannon approach, says drawing fire from both moderates and conservatives is all part of his job. "I'm in the business of ticking people off," he told the Post. "That's why I'm chairman."

Criticized by detractors for being too high profile, he called himself the de facto leader of the GOP. "It would be dereliction of my duty if I sat in this office all day." He said his rebranding of the GOP will be a "wholesale makeover, inside out" that will rely on "young guns" and "not typical Washington types."


(More Michael Steele stories.)

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