TONY CAMPBELL COMMENTARY: Michael Steele: The Republican Harry Houdini

The moderate Republican is not feeling the Republican National Committee's new chair, a fellow Marylander whom he knows: "Michael’s problem is that he lacks credibility. His success has come at the expense of monumental failures of others that he has miraculously escaped with his reputation enhanced. If there is a Harry Houdini of Republican politics, it is Michael Steele. Here is a short list of his most notable escapes: 1) 1999 - After Ellen Sauerbrey’s second defeat for Governor, Steele as P.G. County Chair (one of three subdivisions that cost Sauerbrey her victory twice) was elevated to the office of State Party Chair. 2) 2006 - In his re-election year as Lt. Governor of Maryland, Steele and Bob Ehrlich split their successful pairing. Steele ran for the U.S. Senate and both men were defeated by sizable margins. The following year, Steele is appointed to be the head of GOPAC (the state and local candidate recruitment and training arm of the RNC). 3) 2009 - As Chair of GOPAC, it was Steele’s job to train Republican candidates for the 2008 election cycle to win elections…HE FAILED MISERABLY! Republican candidates were defeated across the board at all levels of government. However, he is once again rewarded for his failure by being tapped to be RNC Chair."