NEW YORK (CBS) -- Election wins in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races show the GOP has "found its voice again," the Republican party's chairman said Wednesday.
During an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show", Michael Steele touted the victories of New Jersey's Chris Christie and Virginia's Bob McDonell as a "bellwether for the party."
Steele said the wins, in two states carried by President Barack Obama last fall, recast the GOP as a "transcendent party."
"The conservative message resonated, but it was translated in a way that people felt embraced by it at the polls," Steele said.
Democrats did win the closely watched special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District – a contest that many painted as indicative of a clash between moderates and conservatives within the Republican party.
Right wing Republicans, including national figures like Sarah Palin, supported the Conservative party's Doug Hoffman over moderate Dierdre Scozzafava, who was pressured over support of abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Scozzafava dropped out of the race over the weekend and actually threw her support behind Democrat Bill Owens, who ended up winning the heavily Republican district.
But Steele didn't accept the argument that New York's 23rd underscored an ideological battle over the soul of the party.
"I appreciate that particular perspective on it. But it wasn't about the struggle between the right and the middle and all of this. It was a process problem. … They should've had a primary there, there's no doubt about that."
"Now the bottom line is this, the drama of 23 was nice and cute and fun, [and] everybody made fun about how the party's all fractured. The reality is now that we have a chance to get the seat back in about a year, which we likely will."
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