GOP Leaders Seek to Dump Steele – Quietly

Republicans virtually across the board want to oust Michael Steele as chairman of the Republican National Committee, which has been plagued by financial mismanagement and ineffectiveness on his watch. But they want to do so quietly, without a big fight in public, The Hill reports.

Republican leaders worry that upsetting Steele could cause trouble for the party’s presidential campaign against Barack Obama in 2012.

“There’s widespread concern about the appearance of dumping the chairman of the RNC for the wrong reasons — particularly the first African-American chairman of the RNC when we have the first African-American president,” says former Republican Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota. “In politics, perception is everything.”

Steele hasn’t declared for a second term at the RNC, but he hasn’t ruled it out.