The GQ+A with Former RNC Chair Michael Steele

Last night in the hallway of the Tampa Bay Times Forum we caught up with Michael Steele, sometime provocateur and recently shorn former chairman of the Republican National Committee, about Mitt Romney and the GOP's pitch to voters.
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(Photo by Reid Cherlin)

By Reid Cherlin, GQ

This story originally appeared on GQ.com: The GQ+A with Former RNC Chair Michael Steele

Last night in the hallway of the Tampa Bay Times Forum we caught up with Michael Steele, sometime provocateur and recently shorn former chairman of the Republican National Committee, about Mitt Romney and the GOP's pitch to voters.

GQ: What impact are you here to have at the convention?

MS: I'm not having any. [Laughs.] I'm here to work; I'm here for MSNBC doing my job, and that's it. I don't have any impact--I'm just doing my thing. Which is fun.

GQ: What are you looking for in Romney's speech?

MS: It will seal the deal, or it won't. It's that simple. I wanna hear him be him. I wanna hear the governor of Massachusetts. I wanna hear the guy who built relationships with a difficult legislature. I wanna hear the guy who took risks with something innovative in health care. I wanna hear the guy who understands what it's like to be a Republican from a blue state, and how diverse our country really is, and how important it is for our party to be less monolithic, not only in our thought, but in how we view the rest of the country. And if that guy is the one who's talking Thursday night? Game, set, match.

GQ:How's life without the moustache?

MS: [Wiping his lip] It's a lot cooler!

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