Michael Steele gets a pair of unwelcome headlines today, one from Politico (Steele trap? GOP fears grow) and one from the DC Examiner (The Growing Republican Unhappiness With Michael Steele).
In the Examiner piece, Byron York points out something I haven't heard:But some Republicans who were not particularly upset by Steele's references to Limbaugh were appalled when Steele, during the same program, sat quietly while CNN host D.L. Hughley said that last year's Republican National Convention "literally looked like Nazi Germany. It literally did." GOP insiders who saw the performance unanimously agreed that Steele was seriously, perhaps unforgivably, remiss in not challenging a television host who compared Republicans to Nazis.
And in the Politico, Mike Allen and Andy Barr have another interesting tidbit:In another incident that drew unwanted scrutiny to the chairman, Steele was asked by Fox News host Neil Cavuto if he would consider supporting primary challengers against the three Republican senators who voted in favor of President Obama's stimulus package, Steele seemed to threaten moderate Republican Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Susan Collins of Maine by responding: “Oh, yes, I'm always open to everything, baby, absolutely.”
Snowe, who is not facing reelection in 2010, told Roll Call that she approached Steele to ask: “You didn't really mean that, did you?”
Overall, I'm not sure criticisms of Steele amount to much - at least not yet. Part of Steele's job is to put a new face on the party, and he's trying to do that to the best of his ability. But the other part of his job, which is equally (if not more) important, is to raise money and recruit good candidates around the country to run for office. It's too early to tell how successful he's been on those fronts, but in a month or two more Republicans will be able to assess with some validity whether he's getting the job done or not.
Another demonstration of the GOP's steely mind.
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