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Why Steele's Bungles Matter

By Philip Klein on 3.12.09 @ 9:00AM

In an earlier post, I wrote about Michael Steele's muddled abortion comments to GQ, but I'm not sure I really conveyed what a disaster Steele is turning out to be for the Republican Party. It's not just that he's coming across as a complete jackass and alienating conservatives while failing to win over moderates, but that each minute the RNC dedicates to cleaning up a mess he created is a minute not dedicated to pointing out why President Obama's policies will ruin the health care system, stifle business, run up our debt, raise our taxes, cause inflation, and endanger our national security. He's the gift that keeps on giving for the Obama administration. And I'm sure Steele's stumbles aren't helping fundraising.

Steele's biggest problem is that he has a massive ego, and actually thinks that being the chairman of the RNC is all about him. He has bought into this idea that he has incredible media savvy and is going to personally bring new people into the Republican Party. But people don't vote for a political party on the basis of its chairman. In 2008, Americans didn't vote Democrat because Howard Dean was heading the DNC, but because Barack Obama was running for president. The chairman of the party has a role in raising money, allocating resources to candidates across the country, and pummeling the other team. He isn't running for political office himself. In hindsight, Mike Duncan's leadership at the RNC is looking better and better. You never heard a peep out of him. He just quietly went about doing his job, and raised a ton of money in a lousy year for Republicans. Steele needs to wake up and realize that it's called the Republican Party, not the Steele Party.