RNC Chair Says He Will Bring GOP Message To “Hip Hop Settings”

In an interview with the Washington Times, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said he was planning a public relations effort to bring a message of conservative principles “to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.”

Steele said his new public relations team will “come to table with things that will surprise everyone - off the hook.”

Steele, who is the RNC’s first black chair, told the newspaper that his party will use the Internet and advertising to reach out to young voters, blacks and Hispanics.

“We need messengers to really capture that region - young, Hispanic, black, a cross section,” he said. “... We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.”

Steele said the party also needed to do a better job reaching “moms of all shapes.”

The RNC chair said critics who question his experience level should “stuff it.” He blamed the past national Republican leadership for hobbling the party by not casting a wider net while the party was in power.