Oxon Hill -- National Republican Chairman Michael Steele, in an effort to move beyond the woes of his party and his own gaffe-prone leadership, declared in a speech Tuesday that Republicans have turned a corner and are ready to step up their attacks on President Barack Obama.
The "era of apologizing for Republican mistakes of the past is now officially over," Steele said. Those mistakes could include missteps of his own that have led to much negative publicity and internecine bickering in his first four months in office.
In a speech to the party's state chairmen, Steele dismissed such criticisms as inside-the-D.C. Beltway chatter about "phony disputes and intra-party intrigue." But in an earlier, closed session with the party leaders, he conceded that he had made mistakes and learned from them, according to several people who were present.
Steele continues to enjoy strong support from most of the 168-member national committee, which chose him from a multiple candidate field in January.
"He's learning," said Bob Bennett, a Republican committeeman from Ohio. But in a reflection of the skittishness with which some party leaders still view their new chairman, Bennett coupled his praise for Steele's speech with an observation that he had "stuck to the script," unlike with past off-the-cuff remarks.
At Steele's direction, the three-day gathering of Republican chairmen is taking place in Prince George's County, the Maryland suburb where he was born and began a political rise that led to his election as the state's lieutenant governor.
The full Republican National Committee will hold a rare special session Wednesday. Members are expected to approve a series of resolutions, including one accusing Obama and the Democrats of moving the country in a socialist direction.
Steele succeeded in softening an earlier version of the resolution, submitted by a group of RNC conservatives, which had called for the opposition to be renamed the "Democrat Socialist Party."
But Obama's honeymoon "is over," Steele declared, to enthusiastic applause from the chairmen. "We are going to speak truth to power."
He drew a distinction between Democratic attacks on former President George W. Bush, which he described as "shabby," and said that Republicans would take Obama on with "dignity" and "class."
Steele offered detailed criticism of the Democratic administration. He said that Obama has benefited from overly favorable media coverage and the reluctance of some Republicans to challenge a personally popular president.
