At last week’s annual conference of the Young Republican National Federation, RNC Chairman Michael Steele joked that he would woo potential black voters with “fried chicken and potato salad,” prompting criticism from some prominent black Republicans that the G.O.P.’s first black chief was undermining outreach to the black community.

Asked how he intends to attract “diverse populations” to a party bereft of minority coalitions, Steele replied, “My plan is to say ‘Y’all come,’ because a lot of you are already here.”

But noting that an overwhelming 95% of black voters nationwide supported Obama in last year’s general election, black Republican strategists caution that simply saying “y’all come” won’t cut it. Ali Akbar, a young Georgia Republican and online consultant, warns there is something more fundamental to courting minority voters than merely rolling out the welcome mat.

“We have issues of tone, recognition of economic and social circumstances, and to be frank, we’re not talking about how our policy initiatives directly benefit the African American community.”

Indeed, we’re talking about fried chicken.

Steele’s comments have become reliable fodder for political journalists and pundits since securing the chairmanship in January, but black Republican strategists are concerned that Steele’s rocky tenure as chairman does more than erode confidence of deep-pocketed party contributors – it undermines outreach to burgeoning minority communities.

Historically, the Republican playbook on black outreach has been strikingly thin. And unless Republicans stage a concerted effort to mend the rift between the GOP and black voters now, they may be lost for at least a generation.

Some say Steele’s critics are missing the forest for the trees, however.  Sean Conner, formerly the RNC’s outreach press secretary, insists Steele is laying a solid groundwork for increasing the Republican Party’s share of black voters, noting three important strategies.

“First, he’s ensured that the Coalitions Department isn’t just activated six months before an election; secondly, he’s having conversations with diverse folks from across the nation (including the Urban League, the NAACP, and black Republican activists); and thirdly, he’s stood up to address issues important to many African Americans – i.e., small business creation, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship, etc.”

An active coalitions department can only do so much, however, to salvage a party’s image with a community who voted almost entirely en bloc for ‘the other guy.’

Dr. Ada Fisher, one of four black RNC members and a former endorser of Katon Dawson’s unsuccessful bid for chairman, maintains the “relationship between the black community and Republicans has always been solid for those of us who are here.” But just what qualifies as “here” is up for debate, though.

Asked whether Republicans should be encouraged, given the party’s rocky relationship with the black community, by the fact the committee boasts four black committee members, or whether Republicans might be embarrassed by the fact the committee boasts only four black committee members out of one hundred and sixty-eight total posts, Fisher responded with an interesting question of her own.

“How many members of the Democratic hierarchy are black?  Does that deter blacks from voting for them?  No,” she said, answering her own question.

It turns out there are more than four – ninety-two, actually. And they also happened to have a black presidential candidate.

“For too long my party wrote off the African American vote, and many African Americans wrote off the Republican Party,” former President George Bush said at his address to the NAACP in July 2006. “That history has prevented us from working together when we agree on great goals. That’s not good for our country.”

Apparently it’s not so good for the party, either.

Bush, however, should be applauded for his outreach efforts on his bid for reelection.  Increasing his share of the supporters in the black community from 9% in 2000 to 11% in 2004, he made significant strides towards creating a self-sustaining coalition of black supporters. And then Hurricane Katrina happened, only to be followed by the first black contender for president from a major political party two years later.

It was a perfect storm, and Senator John McCain was caught squarely in the middle, in a dinghy, and with no life preserver. Not for a lack of trying, McCain garnered only 4% of the black vote in 2008.

No one anticipated McCain making headway, by which I mean gaining support, in the black community, opposite Barack Obama. But did his failure to maintain the Republican share of black voters ultimately cost him the election? It seems unlikely, if only for the fact that African Americans represented only 13% of voters nationwide.

But a coalition of African American supporters in swing states like North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, and Ohio, all of which boasts black populations well above the national average, could have produced a different result last year.

It was inevitable that race would become a factor in a Republican intra-party contest following the election of the first black president as a Democrat, but Michael Steele won the chairmanship on his own merits – and on the promise of creating a new, more effective national party apparatus. It is ironic, of course, that the candidate pitched as the most polished communicator among the bunch would become the chairman whose far-from-polished communication undermines his own strategy.

Republican strategists, the chief among them being RNC Chair Michael Steele, must recognize the cumulative disadvantage Republican politicians face when courting the black vote. A good ol’ G.O.P. hootenanny with collards, fried chicken, and potato salad isn’t likely to reverse the affects of years of tone-deaf outreach. And neither is an African American chairman, for that matter.

The party chief’s strategy of “Y’all come meet the Colonel for some finger lickin’ fried chicken” and the party activists’ strategy of “We’ve got one, too” are both missing the same element fundamental to minority outreach: meaningful dialogue.

Republican minority outreach strategies are, at best, ill-advised, and at worst, downright criminal.

Black voters are likely not interested in Steele’s secret flavor recipe of 11 herbs and spices for fried chicken. In fact, they probably don’t care too much about his potato salad recipe, either.  We need to offer real solutions and create a dialogue with black America on small business creation, school choice, and tax cuts.

UPDATE: I’ve taken some flak from conservative pundits, journalists, and, oh yes, bloggers this morning, with their primary objection to the post being, of course, that I’m repeating the Huffington Post’s “slander.”

A fellow RNC alum emails:

“Have you gone off the deep end, dude? Steele was responding, in jest I might add, to an audience member who said he’d bring collard greens to Steele’s GOP party.”

The exchange, word for word, that Steele allies maintain never happened:

Audience member: I wanted to ask you, regarding your inclusion of diverse populations in the Republican Party, what is your plan moving forward?

Steele: My plan is to say, ‘Y’all come. Cause a lot of you are already here.’

Audience member: I’ll bring the collard greens.

Steele: There ya’ go. I got the fried chicken and potato salad.

Well, we all know it’s perfectly acceptable to joke about racially sensitive topics when you’re Republican. In fact, in the pursuit of viewers and readers, the media encourages it.

But who needs racially questionable gaffes when there are so many others to pick from:

Elucidating his position on abortion and homosexuality in GQ.

The flap with Rush Limbaugh.

The hip-hop rebranding scheme.

Taking Sarah Palin “off the table” for 2012.

Michael Steele is the titular head of the Republican Party, and when our embattled chairman gaffes, which he does so brilliantly, the Republican Party suffers—financially, and otherwise—as a result. Steele is doing himself and the party he represents a supreme disservice when he does anything outside of mediating intra-party disputes, quietly fundraising, and laying the foundation for a smart 2010 campaign.

Chairman Steele, take a page from the playbook of my former boss, RNC chair Mike Duncan: Shy away from cameras, interviews, and public appearances, and instead fundraise like there will be no tomorrow.

What do you say, shall we leave the chicken and the cheap advertisements to the Colonel?

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