E-mail a friendMichael Fauntroy
airdate May 14, 2009
As assistant professor at the George Mason School of Public Policy, Michael Fauntroy teaches courses in civil rights policy, urban policy and American government. He's a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and has written articles for numerous publications, including The Washington Times and The Chicago Defender. He's also the author of Republicans and the Black Vote and Home Rule or House Rule? Fauntroy was previously an analyst at the Congressional Research Service and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Public policy assistant professor contrasts RNC Chairman Steele's reputation as a great communicator with his recent fumbles. (2:27)
Full interview. (12:08)
Michael Fauntroy
Tavis: Michael Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University whose classes frequently focus on issues of civil rights and American government.
His most recent book is called "Republicans and the Black Vote." He joins us tonight from Washington. Michael, nice to have you on the program, sir.
Michael Fauntroy: Thanks for having me back.
Tavis: Glad to have you on. Let me start by asking how it is - and I'm not naïve in asking this question - but how it is that President Obama's 100 days got so much attention as the first Black president but the first Black to head the Republican Party, his 100 days comes and goes and I didn't even know it, quite frankly, (laughter) until I looked up and said, “Oh my goodness. I saw a story that Michael had been around for 100 days. How did that happen?”
Fauntroy: Well, I think it happened in part because the Republican National Committee didn't want to play it up. The reality is for all of the talk coming out of the White House about how the 100-day mark really doesn't mean anything, the president holds a press conference on that date, they tout some of the administration's achievements in the first 100 days, so they do play it up a bit and you get nothing but silence from the Republican National Committee with regard to its chairman's first 100 days.
Tavis: Why would the Republican Party - here again not a naïve question - but why would they not want to play up the first 100 days?
Fauntroy: Well, I think they don't want to play it up because quite frankly the first 100 days are not much to brag about. There's an awful lot of dysfunction right now in the Republican Party generally, and the Republican National Committee is a bit of a microcosm of that.
Chairman Steele has gotten off to a rough start, to be charitable, and there is some serious question as to how much control he really has, how much support he really has, and the extent to which he can actually lead the party going forward.
Tavis: He may not have much control, he may not have much support, but are you one of those persons who believes that he's still in danger of losing his chairmanship? I thought we were past that part. Maybe I'm wrong.
Fauntroy: Oh, no, I don't think it's a forgone conclusion at all that he will have the job certainly beyond the 2010 elections. His term is up in 2011, but the reality is in some respects he was the default winner of this election.
You may recall that one of the leading challengers for the job, a gentleman by the name of Chip Saltzman, was literally disqualified because he circulated this "Barack the Magic Negro" CD that gained a lot of controversy. Another leading candidate was once a member of a racially exclusive country club.
And so it sort of falls to Michael Steele almost by default and as a result he's not in as strong a position as other party leaders coming in perhaps would have been.
Tavis: I like Michael Steele. I think I can call him a friend, I've known him for years. So I like the chairman. I guess the question for me is how one who made a name for himself as a Black Republican by being such a good communicator - I've said this publicly in "The New York Times," I don't know anybody Black in the Republican party, including J.C. Watts, who has a better track record of being able to communicate to Black people, who obviously don't vote Republican in any significant sort of way.
How did a guy who made a name for himself for being such a great communicator get in so much trouble communicating?
Fauntroy: Well, before I answer that let me make the point, too, I interviewed him for my book. He was very gracious to me. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what it is he's trying to do, although I'm on the other side of the fence politically.
But he's gotten in trouble, I think, because he has tried to be something that he's not. One of the things that you have to understand in politics is not just who you're dealing with but who you are as an individual. And all of the slang talk and all of the other things that have gone on that have raised media attention toward Mr. Steele really doesn't truly reflect who he is and what he's about. And to me, that's the biggest problem that he's facing.
Tavis: You seriously carved out, created a reputation for yourself whether you want to live with it or not, but you've clearly carved out a reputation for yourself when the president of the United States at the White House correspondence dinner the other night where Chairman Steele is present makes a big joke about Michael's language and the slang. You saw that?
Fauntroy: I saw that, and quite frankly, I cringed. I cringed not just for Chairman Steele but also for President Obama, because at some level I understand it's a fun event, a lot of levity, but at some point all you're doing is mocking racial stereotypes and I was disappointed to see that.
And again, Chairman Steele is at fault here because he continues to feed into this, talking about the president's budget plan as being nothing but bling-bling and speaking to the "Washington Times'" editorial board talking about he's about to launch an off-the-hook outreach program to Black communities.
I just don't think that kind of stuff wins. It certainly doesn't win over friends, and if anything it just sort of makes people who want to be with you roll their eyes.
Tavis: What we're talking about, for those who didn't see the White House - it just occurs to me that I should give some context to people like my mama, who I know didn't see the White House correspondents dinner the other night.
The president, in his speech, making fun of Michael Steele, said, "I understand that Michael Steele is in the house tonight." The lights come up, they show Chairman Steele. He stands, he says, "Michael, where are you?" The chairman stands up.
He said, "I understand Michael Steele is in the house tonight," he says, "Or as Michael Steele would say, 'I'm in the heezy.'" That's kind of Snoop Doggish - in the heezy for sheezy. So he goes into this slang stuff, but it killed as a joke, did it not?
Fauntroy: Oh, there was no question about that. But again, people weren't laughing with Michael Steele, they were laughing Michael Steele. And if I were a Republican, and I'm not, I'd be concerned about that in terms of the newly elected historic chairman of the party is 100 days in, being mocked.
Tavis: All right, so what role does Chairman Steele play now in helping to re-shape the party, because the conversation about the party and where it's going and who it's going to be is a much larger conversation than any particular chairman, but he happens to be the guy running the ship at the moment.
How does he factor in? What role must he play, can he play, ought he play, in advancing this conversation about where this party is going to go?
Fauntroy: Well, Tavis, I really think there lies part of the problem. The issue with the Republican Party is that it has drifted too far to the right. When you look at all of the polling data coming out of the 2008 election, you saw a lot of moderate Republicans moving away from the Republican party and either becoming Independents or signing on with the Democrats.
Senator Arlen Specter just left the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and said, "I can't win in this group." And so part of the problem that Chairman Steele has, I think, is first acknowledging that reality. Chairman Steele is a conservative and so it seems to me that he has to acknowledge the reality that the party is now existing in, and then be able to communicate that to people effectively and honestly.
Re-shaping the Republican Party will require the Republican Party accepting some bitter medicine that it doesn't really want to accept, and that is it's too far to the right, it's too doctrinaire, and until it begins to moderate itself it will not win significant segments of the American populace.
Tavis: So here's the question that everybody's asking - is there room in the Republican Party for moderates today?
Fauntroy: Right now, no, and I'm telling you, that speaks to a structural problem that the Republicans have. If you take a look at the 100 best-educated counties in the country in terms of college degree attainment, the Republicans, when Ronald Reagan was winning elections, were cleaning up in those counties. They were winning somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 to 70 of the top 100 counties and winning 55 to 60 percent of the total vote in those counties.
Well, Barack Obama in November of 2008 won 78 of the top 100 best-educated counties in terms of college education attainment, and I think that speaks to a big problem that the Republicans have - they have just disconnected themselves, through their rhetoric and through their policies, from a range of voters around the country, many of whom are moderates.
Tavis: Well, I asked you that last question because you wrote the book, "Republicans and the Black Vote." Professor Michael Fauntroy, professor at George Mason.
Michael, I've got to make room for a conversation now with Maxwell. You a Maxwell fan? Since you opened for him tonight, you a Maxwell fan?
Fauntroy: I'm a huge Maxwell fan, although I have to tell you my wife is much more excited about the next segment than she is this one. (Laughter)
Tavis: And why is that?
Fauntroy: Well, she's had a thing for him for years. When he first came out we went to see him in concert, and this was when we were in the courting stage. And I just found myself watching her, thinking, wow, she really likes this guy. And here we are now and I'm opening for Maxwell. I guess that's how it goes.
Tavis: Well, your wife should be happy with this show, as are we. Michael, nice to have you on. Thanks for sharing your insights.
Fauntroy: It's always good to be with you.
Tavis: Thank you.
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