Steele’s problem is the ‘credit card,’ not the race card, White House’s Gibbs says

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The problems that the Republican National Committee has encountered lately -- most notably the nearly $2,000 the party paid for a night out for a dozen young party donors at a West Hollywood nightclub with a theme of sexual bondage -- have not bypassed the attention of the White House. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had this to say Monday morning about the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who, like the president of the United States, is African American: ‘I think Michael Steele’s problem is not the race card, it’s the credit card.’’

Gibbs’ comment came after Steele’s defense of his leadership of the party amid reports of excessive spending during an interview Monday on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’ The RNC chairman said he has a ‘slimmer margin for error’ because he is black.

‘Barack Obama has a slimmer margin,’ Steele said. ‘A lot of folks do. I mean, it’s a different role for me to play and others to play. And that’s just the reality of it.... I am not a Washington insider even though I grew up in D.C. My view of politics is much more grassroots oriented. It’s not old-boy-network-oriented.’

For more details, see the Swamp. -- Christi Parsons and Mark Silva