According to the National Journal, support from the coalition of party members that helped Michael Steele ascend to Chairman of the National Republican Party is falling apart as party members try to replace the chairman that oversaw the GOP retake the House of Representatives:
Strategists familiar with the RNC who both support and oppose Steele agree there are between 40 and 50 of the 168 voters who will back Steele for a second term. Another 40 to 50 members will definitely vote for someone else. The remaining members, numbering between 88 and 68, are undecided.
Meanwhile, a group of prominent Republicans led by Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie are searching for a consensus candidate capable of defeating Steele. Though they have not settled on a challenger, and in fact are unlikely to find a consensus choice, strategists who both support and oppose Steele say coalitions are forming now to deny Steele a second term.
It is interesting to see the GOP overthrow the chairman that presided over the party at a time the GOP returned to prominence in D.C., but I must say that it is a shrewd, but smart political move by the likes of Karl Rove. I believe that most of the party's political people see that the GOP retook the House in spite of Michael Steele, not because of him. It will be tough to replace someone who has been chairman at such a good time for the GOP, but it will behoove the Republican Party to have someone else at the helm come the 2012 Presidential election.
