Michael Steele Interview in GQ

GQ has an extensive interview with GOP Chairman Michael Steele on their website. I know Mr. Steele has taken some hits lately (I've even dealt one or two) but I'm still a fan. There are some good quotes in there, and the interview is well worth perusing.

On dealing with criticism:

How do you deal with the criticism?
I just pray on it.

You do?
Oh yeah. And I ask God, “Hey, let me show just a little bit of love, so I absolutely don’t go out and kick this person’s ass.”

On Obama:

Was it emotional for you when Barack was sworn in?
No.

On being a Republican:

How did you become a Republican?
My mama raised me well.

No, really. What was it?
Ronald Reagan was a big influence. I was fascinated by what he had to say. He sounded a lot like how my mother raised me, back in that time. When my dad died, our church, our family, our friends, really put a lot of pressure on her to go on welfare, to get a government check.

And instead she worked in a laundry, didn’t she?
Sterling Laundry. As a presser. For forty-three, forty-four years. The most my mother ever made was $3.80 an hour. And I remember asking her why she never went on welfare, and she said, “I didn’t want the government raising my children.”

On Sarah Palin:

What was your reaction when you first heard that McCain picked Sarah Palin?
I loved it.

You did?
Well, I know the governor. I know her. I liked her. And you know what? To be fair, before she was demonized and denigrated by the national media, a lot of people thought it was a bold, ballsy move. They thought, Wow.

Yeah, well, wow can mean a lot of things.
I can tell you for a fact, because I’ve got the e-mails. I somehow got in some Democrat loop; I have friends who sometimes include me in stuff, and then they forget I’m there, and they continue to send it out, and people start responding. That weekend, there were e-mails that went around that basically said, “Ohmigod, we’ve got to stop this. We’ve got to make sure that within ten days McCain is kicking her off the ticket.” Because they knew what she represented, after what they’d just done to Hillary Clinton. They put Hillary so far under the bus, she became a tread on the tire.

You still like Palin?
I do.

Is she the future of your party?
She’s one of many leaders that we will have emerge over the next, uh, four to seven years, yeah.

At the end of the day, did she help or hurt the ticket?
I think she helped immensely. I think, uh, people want to put it in the context of how the liberal media responded to her. They were threatened by her.

Why would the media be threatened?
Because! This woman had appeal!

Why would the media be threatened by someone with appeal?
Because they have their own agenda! Remember, in my view, Barack Obama is their creation. I mean, come on! They got behind him very early, and they stayed with him all the way through. And they’ve admitted it. Even The Washington Post—what was it, two weeks after the election?—finally said, “Oh, yeah, I guess we were a little biased in our reporting on Barack Obama.” This country still doesn’t know who this man is!