(sfgate) As the nation is on the verge of inaugurating its first black president, the Republican Party is facing a telling choice: whether to elect its first black chairman. The contest for Republican Party chairman comes as Republican leaders seek to figure out what the party stands for, as well as what face to put forward as it struggles to avoid shrinking into a party of Southern white men as the country grows increasingly diverse. Among the six candidates are four white men, including two from the South, and two African Americans: Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, and Kenneth Blackwell, the former Ohio secretary of state. Because it is a six-way race in which ballots are cast anonymously, it is impossible to project who might win. But party leaders said Blackwell and Steele were viable candidates, particularly Blackwell, who has strong support from social conservatives. Dems make inroads The leadership struggle follows a campaign in which Democrats, led by President-elect Barack Obama, made geographical and demographic inroads, despite eight years in which President Bush and a previous party chairman, Ken Mehlman, tried to expand the ethnic and racial backdrop of the party. The party is grappling with sharp ideological and geographical divides, and the question of the candidates' race has not been explicitly raised by the committee or the contenders. "I think it's color blind; I don't think people are talking about it," said Mike Duncan, the current party chairman, chosen by Bush, who is seeking re-election.

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