CNN analyst Alex Castellanos, who was a Michael Steele ally and adviser, says Steele has lost the confidence of congressional Republicans and major donors and it’s time for a “a change in leadership” at the RNC.

We’re still piecing together the story of this guy in Washington state who’s been charged by the feds with threatening to kill Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) for her yes vote on health care reform. But what we do know based on the charging documents in the case (which you can read here) is that at one point to make sure they had the right guy an FBI agent called the suspect and pretended to be from the anti-reform group Patients United Now. That’s a real industry-backed group (or at at least was real during the reform debate; our call just now to the phone number listed on their website reached a line that has been disconnected). Read More

Read Jennifer Senior’s must-read piece in New York Magazine about why old and new, right and left, even the people in the senate think the institution has broken down and is just an awful place to be.

Sounds like we may not have seen the last of the departures from the RNC. We’re hearing that the Steele debacle of the last 72 hours — as opposed, I guess, to last week’s Steele debacle or I guess the debacle of the last month in general — has been the straw that broke the camel’s back. And a bunch of RNC staffers are now sending out resumes looking for a way off the USS Steele before it goes under the waves.

Facebook entry from one of the “Young Eagles,” the RNC’s targeted outreach to young wealthy conservatives which ran aground on the shores of lesbian-themed bondage: “My ancestors, actually, weren’t on the Mayflower. They sent the servants over first to get the cottage ready.”

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK): Don’t believe everything you hear on Fox News.

Michael Steele’s RNC tenure has been marked by a series of crises, but the events of the last day and half strike at the fund-raising core of the party. Justin Elliott, on the latest developments and what they mean.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman drops $20 million more of her own money into her campaign for the Republican nomination for governor of California, bringing the total to $59 million so far. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

Jon Stewart, on the Florida urologist who refuses to treat supporters of health care reform: “If you voted for Obama, this man will not touch your penis. But if you voted for McCain, he’ll touch your penis.” Watch.