A leading House Republican said Michael Steele should step aside as the chairman of the Republican National Committee if he is not willing to speak for the consensus of the party. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), speaking in a taping of C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” said the embattled Steele “is not my leader” and “not the head of my party.”
“Michael Steele is supposed to reflect a consensus of Republican platform and policies,” he said. The episode is set to air Sunday morning. “If he does that, he certainly could remain. If he’s not willing to do that, if he wants to be a political leader on his own, there’s plenty of seats open in November. I’d suggest he run for one of them.”
Steele has been intensely criticized over his remarks last week, characterizing the war in Afghanistan as a war of President Barack Obama’s choosing. He recently canceled an appearance in Aspen, Colo., but later said he would not step down. Republican leadership on Capitol Hill has been largely silent on the issue. But Issa, responding to a question from this reporter, who was a panelist, said that Steele “doesn’t represent me.”
“I hope that he can realize that he should be a consensus explainer for the Republican Party across America, which I think would be very helpful,” the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee said. He continued, “I think he has to make a decision, and everybody at the RNC has to make a decision: Are they going to speak on behalf of the consensus of Republicans, what we’ve already established as policy? If so, that’s great, he can do the job. If he’s not willing to do it, then I think he should resign. He has to decide which he’s going to be.”
