Republican's Learned Nothing From McCain Candidacy

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Members of the Republican National Committee elected their first African-American party chief Friday, choosing former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele to chair the organization after six tumultuous rounds of voting.

For the duration of his campaign, Steele fought suspicions that he was too moderate to lead the party because of his blue state roots and his former membership in the Republican Leadership Council, a group that sought to curb the influence of social conservatives in the party.

The Republican Party continues to astound me. If John McCain did nothing else for us during the presidential elections, he taught us that the Republican Party does not want a Moderate to pilot our cause. Steele summed up the desperation of the vote that led to his election, "We have been misdefined as a party that doesn't care, a party that's insensitive, a party that is unconcerned about minorities, a party that is unconcerned about the lives and the expectations and dreams of average Americans. Nothing could be further from the truth."

After today, no fair-minded observer can believe the stereotype of the Republicans as the party of old white men. Likewise, no reasonable person can believe that the Republicans are interested in advancing the Conservative principles that this nation is so desperately craving.

I wish this election had been less about race and more about doctrine. The RNC needs to be purged and returned to the philosophy that shaped its one time greatness. I’ll remain open-minded about Steele, as I don’t really know much about him.