The former chairman of the Republican National Committee said in an interview on Monday that the Planned Parenthood abortion business targets African-Americans. Michael Steele told Laura Ingraham’s Monday radio show, when asked about the NAACP, that the prominent pro-abortion organization is no friend of the black community.

Steele also said the relationship between the NAACP and Planned Parenthood should be made better known.

“It is one of those twists of history that I’ve yet to understand and how when you look at something like the NAACP siding up with an organization like Planned Parenthood that has as part of its history and its charter and its existence — you know, the use of abortion to eliminate and limit the number of African-Americans and other minorities in this country, to me it’s just beyond the pale,” Steele said...

The new Republican National Committee chairman cleared house over the weekend on his 2012 convention planning committee, firing staffers who under ex-Chairman Michael Steele had racked up a hefty bill before the 2010 midterm election had even been held.

In one of his first official acts, Chairman Reince Priebus announced Sunday that he had made "some changes" to ensure a "successful" Republican National Convention. He announced that he had fired the convention liaison and the employees of the Committee on Arrangements, the panel responsible for planning the event.

"We are committed to holding a world-class 2012 Republican National Convention that will be worthy of the next president of the United States," Priebus said in a written statement. "I look forward to bringing on top-notch staff and planning a convention that all Republicans, especially our 2012 presidential nominee, can be proud of"...

WASHINGTON --Reince Priebus was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday after Michael Steele dropped his bid to stay atop the party for another two years.

Priebus clinched the victory after seven rounds, securing 97 votes, more than the 85 required to win. Steele dropped out of the race after four rounds.

"At this time, I will step aside for others to lead," Steele told the168 RNC committee members at the Gaylord Resort in National Harbor, Md. "But in so doing, I hope y'all appreciate the legacy we leave. Despite the noise -- because lord know we had a lot of noise -- despite the difficulties, we won"...

Update: 3:53p.m. Michael Steele has dropped out of the race for RNC Chair. In a speech to voters, he urged his supporters to support Maria Cino....

WASHINGTON -- GOP Chairman Michael Steele is fighting for survival atop the Republican National Committee, seeking to hold off four challengers accusing him of financial mismanagement and poor stewardship during his rocky, two-year tenure.

The 168 members of the RNC were set to vote by secret ballot Friday on who should serve as party chairman during the 2012 presidential election cycle, when Republicans will try to defeat President Barack Obama. Eighty-five votes are needed for victory.

Steele, who shocked many fellow Republicans by deciding to seek a second term, registered some level of public support as the RNC's winter meeting convened this week. But many committee members were keeping their intentions private and several rounds of votes are expected, making it impossible to predict the outcome...

WASHINGTON – Democratic and Republican party leaders put on their best game faces Monday, making 11th hour arguments on the eve of midterm elections that seem certain to curb if not end Democratic control of Congress.

"We're hoping now for a fresh start with the American people," said GOP chairman Michael Steele. "If we don't live up to those expectations, then we'll have a problem in two years".

His Democratic counterpart, Tim Kaine, said he believes Democrats will do better than some experts have contended, arguing that Republicans have been obstructionists who "can't see beyond the end of their no"...

The head of the Republican Party on Friday urged members to step up their efforts for the fall elections amid cautious confidence about the GOP winning several governorships and perhaps seizing control of Congress from President Barack Obama's party.

"We can't rest now," GOP chairman Michael Steele told the Republican National Committee. "Everything we've been doing, and all that we must do, needs to be ramped up and maxed out in the next three months."

"Sleep? What's that? We can't sleep until November 3rd," he added...

Republican leaders have quickly sought to cast their gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia as the beginning of a resurgence for their party and a sign of trouble for President Obama while the White House argues that the results are not about the president.

Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said Wednesday that Republican victories in the governors' races demonstrated "a transcendent party" that was on the move again and credited an electorate increasingly fed up with Obama's policies.

"The Republican renaissance has begun. It has begun in earnest, in which we put our faith in the hopes and dreams of the American people to rebuild our economy from the bottom up, not the big deficit spending plans and policies of the politicians in Washington or our state capitals," he said...

Washington (AP) - Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele says he fears the health insurance cooperatives envisioned in the bill the Senate Finance Committee is promoting amounts to a "back door to a public option."

Interviewed Thursday on CBS's "The Early Show," Steele also said he doubts Republicans will embrace the legislation produced by committee Chairman Max Baucus and the "Gang of Six," -- Baucus, two other Democrats and three Republicans.

Steele said he believes that the "co-ops in this bill represent government control. The government is financing these co-ops. We need to watch this very carefully"...