It’s official. Michael Steele is the new head of the RNC. I’m happy to say that, for once, the RNC did the right thing. Michael Steele is a tenacious advocate of Republican principles and is well skilled in breaking them down in terms plain and firm enough to win over the common man. He out-performed both McCain and Bush in the bluest of blue states, Maryland, in the worst of all years to make such a run, 2006. He’s made the rounds on all the media circuits, so he has a public profile. If any man can lead this party now, at a time when we are so bereft of leadership, this is the man for the job.

More importantly, this is an important statement about our party. More than anything else, our party desperately needs a break with the past. Steele represents that like few could. He’s the party’s first black RNC Chair. He breaks the sectional model we threatened to go down if we’d picked Dawson. He’s a break with the disasterous road we went down in 2008 under Mike Duncan. Steele is a new face and new leadership, and the public desperately wants a new GOP as an alternative to both the old and to the Democrats. So, here’s a salute to our new RNC chair, may his tenure mark the start of our comeback.