Submitted by Hirohito, Nov 21, 2006 15:41

You are quite correct, Ms. Colon, in asserting that Republicans don't get why they are so out of touch with minority voters. It matters little whether the RNC is chaired by hispanic Mel Martinez or African American Michael Steele, because it is the policies of the Republican party that don't appeal to minorities. Both Martinez and Steele are intelligent, articulate men, but they are not connected with the minority communities at large.

Steele lost his Senate race because his conservative message was out-of-step with his home county in Maryland, and with the state as a whole. Also, his experience as a leader is rather meager, he had few accomplishments as Maryland's Lt. Governor, and was largely unsuccessful during his years as the state's GOP chair. For the past year the Maryland taxpayers have been paying his rather generous salary, so that he could spend his time and rsources on his campaign, and not be inconvenienced by having to actually perform a meaningful function at the State House in Annapolis.

He has risen to the top quickly because there are so few outstanding black Republican candidates, not because of a legion of substantive ideas or worthy achievements. For the same reason, I cannot quite fathom why he would be at the top of Rove's list for a cabinet post. Maybe, it was part of the deal Rove made when he recruited Mr. Steele to run in the senate race.

Martinez will have a lot of ground to make up in '08 with hispanic voters, as this years election results show that increasing numbers voted for Democrats over the figures from the 2004 race. The GOP's harsh stand on illegal immigration may be at fault here, so perhaps a less xenophobic stance would be helpful.

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