G.O.P. Chairman Urges Reid to Step Down Over Remarks

Michael Steele, the Republican Party chairman, called Sunday for Harry Reid to step down as U.S. Senate majority leader in the wake of revelations of Mr. Reid's remarks in 2008 about Barack Obama's skin color and dialect.



A new book about the 2008 campaign quotes Mr. Reid as predicting that Mr. Obama could become the country's first black president because he was "light-skinned" and had "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." On Saturday, the senator issued a public statement apologizing for the remark. He also expressed his regret for the comment in a phone call to Mr. Obama, who accepted his apology. But Mr. Steele, who is black, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that an apology was not enough and "there has to be a consequence" for "anachronistic language that harkens backs to the 1950's and 1960's." Asked by the moderator, David Gregory, whether an appropriate consequence is Mr. Reid's resignation as majority leader, Mr. Steele said, "I believe it is."



The statement suggested that Republicans would not let the controversy pass quietly, while Democrats, from Mr. Obama himself to the Rev. Al Sharpton, worked to put the matter to rest.



"There's a big double standard here," Mr. Steele said. "When Democrats get caught saying racist things, you know an apology is enough." He recalled that Trent Lott had stepped down as Republic majority leader in 2002 after making a racially tinged remark. Had a similar statement been made by Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, Democrats would be calling for his head, he said. Mr. Steele made many of the same statements on "Fox News Sunday."



Appearing alongside him on "Meet the Press," Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Mr. Reid's comments were "unfortunate and insensitive" but were made in the context of advocating a run by Mr. Obama for president. Mr. Lott's remarks had been made in what appeared to be praise for Strom Thurmond for his segregationist candidacy.



Mr. Reid's remarks were contained in "Game Change," a newly published account of the 2008 presidential race by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. The book reported that Mr. Reid privately urged Mr. Obama, then a freshman senator, to seek the presidency in the fall of 2006 despite his limited experience and the historical obstacles to making such a run.



"I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words," Mr. Reid said in a statement on Saturday. "I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans, for my improper comments."



President Obama quickly expressed support for Mr. Reid.



"I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years. I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice, and I know what's in his heart," Mr. Obama said in a statement, adding that the remark was "unfortunate." "As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."



Mr. Reid, who is embroiled in a difficult re-election battle in Nevada and a bruising legislative fight over health care on Capitol Hill, had already been fighting speculation that he might step down.



Congressman Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday did not go as far as Mr. Steele, saying that the controversy "is an issue the Democrats are going to have to deal with internally."



"It is a Democrat issue, it is a personal issue - Republicans ought to stand on the sidelines," he said.



While Mr. Obama has acknowledged that his race has played a role in his rapid national rise, he has long sought to prevent race from being a distraction to his political campaigns and his agenda. The White House swiftly issued a statement, aides said, in an effort to keep the controversy from interfering with a final push on health care legislation and from setting back one of the party's leaders in the mid-term elections.



The call from Mr. Reid was the latest in a string of apologies Mr. Obama has accepted over the years, underscoring the sometimes uneasy evolution of race and politics in America. Three years ago, then-Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware told the New York Observer that Mr. Obama was "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."



Mr. Obama accepted Mr. Biden's apology and more than a year later selected him as the Democratic vice presidential nominee.



The relationship between the president and Mr. Reid has been strong since Mr. Obama arrived in Washington as a senator in 2005. One year later, Mr. Reid encouraged Mr. Obama to think about running for president.



Mr. Reid made the remark to the authors in the context of praising Mr. Obama's political skills. An aide to Mr. Reid said the comments about how he believed the country would accept Mr. Obama, whose father was black and mother was white, were not intended for use in the book.



In Washington and in Nevada, the exchange set off something of a political furor for Mr. Reid. One adviser said that Mr. Reid's aggressive response was an attempt to avoid the fate of Mr. Lott. The National Republican Senatorial Committee on Saturday circulated comments that Mr. Reid made during the Lott controversy. Mr. Reid said at the time: "If you tell ethnic jokes in the back room, it's that much easier to say ethnic things publicly. I've always practiced how I play."



Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, was among the black leaders who received a call from Mr. Reid. Mr. Clyburn said that Mr. Reid should be judged on the merits of his record to respond to diversity and to advance the president's agenda.



"I am one of those who wish to one day live in a color-blind nation," Mr. Clyburn said. "But the fact is that none of us do today."



Reverend Sharpton of New York offered his support for Mr. Reid after receiving a telephone call from him. He said that while Mr. Reid "did not select the best word choice in this instance," the comments should not distract Congress or the White House.



The remark from Mr. Reid is one of several items in the book that present new assertions from the 2008 presidential campaign.



In another passage, the book says that Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York was among the Democrats quietly encouraging Mr. Obama to enter the race. Mr. Schumer later endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton, but he and Mr. Reid jointly urged Mr. Obama to run in late 2006. (Mr. Schumer said through a spokesman that he "had a high regard for President Obama, but he was a strong and devoted supporter of then-Senator Clinton from the day she announced her campaign to the day she withdrew.")