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GOP watch: Steele courts Tea Party Posted: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 8:53 AM by Domenico Montanaro Politico and the Washington Post report that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele will meet with 50 Tea Party activists today on Capitol Hill. Politico's Vogel writes that "Tuesday will mark the first large-scale get-together between the national party and grass-roots activists from a wide array of regional tea party groups." But some "tea partiers have pushed back against Republican groups wrapping themselves in the movement’s flag. Jenny Beth Martin, a founder of the umbrella group Tea Party Patriots, remembers asking the Republican Governors Association...

Critics of Michael Steele's tenure as RNC chairman are motivated by racism, Steele suggested in an interview published today. Speaking to the Washingtonian Magazine (no online version), Steele wondered why his DNC counterpart doesn't get the same criticism he does. "I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation," Steele said. "Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?” The RNC has experienced significant staff turnover since Steele became chairman, especially in the communcations shop. That has prompted speculation about Steele's management...