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Just three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president, the Republican Party in USA chose former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, as the first black national chairman in its history on Friday (30th January).
The new GOP chairman, Mr. Steele declared his appointment as the 'dawn of a new party'. He was chosen over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked candidate.
Steele is taking the charge of the beleaguered Republican Party at a time, when it is trying to recover after the crushing defeats in November's national elections. In the election Democrats got the control of Congress and Barack Obama rose to the helm of the White House. Steele, an attorney, is a conservative. But he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running for the post.
As he was not a member of the Republican National Committee, he was considered as an outsider among his Republican circles. But interestingly the 168-member RNC clearly signaled that it wanted a change after eight years of Bush regime.
