We were chatting here at TPM HQ about whether or not we expect Steele to survive this latest gaffe/scandal. My sense — and it seemed to be most everyone else’s too — is that it takes more than this to pry Michael Steele out of the RNC. I mean, the guy’s like a barnacle. I can’t even begin to remember all the career-ending goofs and scandals this guy has laughed off. I see Steele walking up to this scandal, slapping it two or three times across the face and then walking away with a look of bemused disgust. Maybe brushing off his shoulder.
But there’s one thing that’s possibly different.
Most of the folks who are or are about to be calling for Steele to resign are just being opportunistic. They’ve wanted him to resign forever, many of them have called on him to resign and with this goof he’s just given them another bite at the apple. But I think this is the first time Steele has really gotten crosswise with the neocons and various Central Asia/Mideast militarists. And that can be a different thing. Maybe I’m forgetting some but I don’t think Bill Kristol really cared one way or another about Michael Steele until now. It’s just not his thing. But I figure he’s genuinely on fire about it now. Because this is a really big deal to those guys.
I wonder if that changes the equation at all.
