Michael Steele is hemorrhaging support in the GOP, both solid and tacit. He tried to staunch the bleeding during a speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference on Saturday by uncharacteristically admitting mistakes have been made during his tenure, but for many, especially those of the Southern persuasion, Steele’s mea culpa was unpersuasive.
The latest high-profile party member to turn their back on the Republican National Committee Chair is conservative entertainer (and former speechwriter for another troubled Republican, Richard Nixon) Ben Stein. Unconstrained by electoral concerns, Stein calls Steele’s installment as head of the RNC “a pitiful imitation” made in response to the election of an African-American president. He assails Steele for being incompetent and fiscally irresponsible, party fouls so severe he should be abandon his post. After all, as Stein points out, he will find everything he wants back in Baltimore.
