Double change in US as RNC elects its first black chair

KATHMANDU, Jan 31: It is time for double change in the United States.



In nearly three months after the country elected a Democrat as the first African-American president, the country´s political landscape changed decisively at the top with conservative Republican Party choosing its first black national chairman in its history Friday, The Associated Press reported from Washington.



The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush´s hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."



Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican Party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November´s national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress put Barack Obama in the White House.



Steele will serve a two-year term.



Read more in our ´International´ section: RNC elects its first black chairman

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RNC elects its first black chairman