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State GOP Chief Urges Steele Support

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By WILLIAM MARCH

wmarch@tampatrib.com

Published: March 14, 2009

TAMPA - State Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer is asking fellow party officials to lay off the criticism of the party's new national chairman, Michael Steele, who has taken flak from the conservative side of the party during his brief tenure.

Greer's message is the latest salvo in the ideological battle within the party - in effect, whether it's the party of Rush Limbaugh or of moderates such as Greer and Gov. Charlie Crist.

In a letter Thursday to all members of the Republican National Committee, the governing body of the national party, Greer said Steele "has come under assault from a number of fronts."

"While we can and should expect attacks like this from the Democrats, it is unacceptable when they come from within our own Party," he wrote.

He called Steele's critics a "vocal minority" within the party whose criticism isn't constructive, and said others in the party must speak forcefully to drown them out.

Steele feuded briefly with Limbaugh last week. In response to questions from a talk-show host about whether Limbaugh has become, in effect, the leader of the party, he spoke dismissively of Limbaugh as "an entertainer" whose opinions are sometimes "incendiary" and "ugly." Steele later apologized to Limbaugh.

The latest fracas surrounding Steele was in response to an interview with GQ magazine, in which he made comments about abortion and homosexuality - that homosexuality is innate from birth, not a choice, and that women should have the right to have an abortion - that don't square with the views of Republican Christian conservatives.

"No, it's your nature. It's your nature. You can't-I can't deny you your nature," he said of homosexuality.

He added: "You just can't simply say, oh, like, 'Tomorrow morning I'm gonna stop being gay.' It's like saying, 'Tomorrow morning I'm gonna stop being black.'"

Steele's comments on abortion were ambivalent, noting he was adopted. Asked whether women have the right to choose abortion, he said, "Yeah. I mean, again, I think that's an individual choice. ... Yeah. Absolutely."

But he also said the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, Roe v. Wade, "was a wrongly decided matter" and should be overturned, and that the states should decide on the legality of abortion. "The individual choice rests in the states," he said. "Let them decide."

Asked whether the GOP should be open to pro-choice individuals, he said, "Absolutely."

Those comments immediately drew criticism from anti-abortion party leaders, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, quoted in news reports as calling it "a reversal of Republican policy and principle" and "a violation of the most basic of human rights."

Kenneth Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state, who ran against Steele for the chairmanship, said in published reports that Steele needs to "re-read the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and the 2008 GOP platform," and that he should "get to work or get out of the way."

Steele also irked some Republicans this week with comments in a television interview saying he would consider helping Republican primary challengers against Republican officeholders who supported President Barack Obama's stimulus package.

In January, Greer considered running for Republican National Committee chairman, but then decided not to run. Instead, with tacit support from Crist, he became one of Steele's leading backers, and is now head of Steele's transition effort.

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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