Take a gander at this beauty:

Note that there’s no response to question number three. It’s a cliffhanger! Does this stuff really change RNC member minds? Probably not. But it hints at what many members are talking about: The rumor that Michael Steele is working to seal a deal with Duncan whereby Steele can be the mouthpiece for the RNC. Steele insiders are denying the point, which makes sense whether or not it’s true.

Such a deal would allow Duncan to free himself of the baggage of the last failed cycle that many feel he shouldn’t have to carry. It was, after all, Bush’s party. Steele is an effective communicator. The only problem is that Steele is viewed as the candidate who would attempt to pull in more liberal Republican candidates into the party. Conservatives view this as a failing of Duncan’s already — and if he goes with a moderate, he could lose the conservative Republican activists in the vote to someone with an established conservative record like Ken Blackwell or Katon Dawson.