I was initially disappointed that the RNC chose Michael Steele as its new chair when all the other candidates were so much more insane, or incompetent, or both.  Of all of them, Steele probably had the best understanding of just how far down the toilet the Republican brand is, and why:

"’I've got an ‘R’ here, a scarlet letter,’" said Steele of his party affiliation. "’If this race is about Republicans and Democrats, I lose.’"

Despite having been recruited to run for the Senate by President Bush and key Republican leaders eager to improve the party’s performance among African-American voters, Steele separated himself rhetorically from many central aspects of the Bush administration’s record. He called the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina "’a monumental failure,’" saying, "’We became so powerful in our ivory towers, in our gated communities. We forgot that there are poor people.’"

(…)

[Steele] also rapped the administration for its handling of Iraq….

"People want an honest assessment from the administration," Steele told Milbank, "and they want to hear the administration admit … it didn’t work, so we’re going to try a Plan B."

But for all that he’s right about, his record reveals him to be just another unscrupulous, two-faced, social-conservative idiot Republican.  He bused in homeless people from Philly to hand out phony Democratic sample ballots with his name on them.  He talked out of both sides of his mouth about Obama.  And he compared stem cell research to slavery and the Holocaust.  And that’s just for starters.

Better yet, the issues where he is right, like Iraq, poverty and racism (sometimes), are precisely the issues where the Republican party is going to completely ignore him.  If we’re really lucky, he might even vent his frustration publicly like he did in 2006.  Just imagine Steele going ballistic the next time the Southern Strategy resurfaces.  I would sell my left nut for a chance to write an "Even The RNC Chair Thinks Republicans Are Racist Bastards" post, and I’m not alone (although I will be after I sell my left nut).

Oh, and that time he got busy in a Burger King bathroom will really hurt him with the religious right.  I just don’t think "Operation: Racists… Not" is going to work out.