Does Steele Need Limbaugh?

Yes, argues Lenny McAllister. The black conservative Republican argues that despite the criticism, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele can actually use talk show host Rush Limbaugh's help in fixing the GOP brand: "While Steele represents an effort to re-engage lost Republicans and attract new ones, Limbaugh represents the current base – a group often characterized (wrongly) as wealthy, elitist and racist. Can you imagine the Republican Party’s growth potential if these diverging perspectives can find a way to coexist and walk together? With a strengthened base that can effectively articulate the Republican history (the party of women’s suffrage, the end of slavery, and the support of black suffrage and civil rights legislation) and the Republican credo (smaller government, more private entrepreneurship and lower taxes), Steele’s outreach movement could proceed with a clear message and a steady hand. If the intensity of the base, as represented by Limbaugh, can be contained and modulated by the class that Steele has shown while maneuvering to his current post, the Republicans would have the opportunity to advance their agenda and argue their positions in the kind of respectful atmosphere that has not been a part of the GOP playbook in decades."

He adds: "If the messaging efficiency of Rush Limbaugh can find common cause with Steele’s long-term growth agenda, Republicans would have the chance to recapture the attention of a nation that naturally leans center-right in its politics. Considering the contrasts in style and message between the Steele and Limbaugh camps, these are big 'ifs.' But if the Democrats can pull off the near-impossible trick of electing a relative unknown as the first black president of the United States, perhaps the Republicans can have a few impossible tricks up their sleeve as well."