RELATED: Jake Tapper Calls Out RNC Chairman For Comparing Obama To Italian Ship Captain

She then welcomed Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston and DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to the show, along with her MSNBC colleague Chris Matthews.

“I mean, really,” said Brzezinski, “Do we need to talk about that comment by Reince Priebus? Who I like a lot. But that was just absolutely wrong. That just lowered it even lower.”

“It’s the politics of contempt,” Matthews agreed.

“That was disgusting, I’m sorry. Take it back,” Brzezinski continued, placing the blame on the RNC as a whole:

You all screwed up in a big way. You all sat around in a room and said, “Oooh! This would be so cool to say. Hahaha.” You slapped your knees and then you went on the air and then you spit that out, you vomited it out and you made a fool of yourself. Are we done? Does anyone want to add?

Kingston, however, felt Priebus’ comments were his own, and not necessarily reflective of some group effort or plan by the Republican National Committee.

Wasserman Schultz, meanwhile, pointed out that, when Priebus was offered the opportunity to back away from his comment, he merely doubled down. “We’re talking about families who still have loved one missing,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Watch, via MSNBC:

RELATED: Jake Tapper Calls Out RNC Chairman For Comparing Obama To Italian Ship Captain

“I made it very clear in the comments twice that what I was referring to — i didn’t just make the comment and move on. I made the comment that it was referring to leadership and acting like a leader in a moment of crisis. I was referring to the fact that this president is in love with campaigning and not in love with his job of getting our country back on track. I think it’s awful. I mean, people died, terrible and our prayers go out to those people without a question. But to take this comment and turn it into something that it is not, that’s wrong, too. That’s political gamesmanship.”

Kelly noted that Michael Steele and The White House has issued commented condemning him for his comments.

“The reality is the comment was crystal clear, couched twice with exactly what this was about, which is about leadership and learning about the rest our country that’s out of work instead your own job to get reelected 24/7. That issue was made clear. It will be about putting people back to work and the president has not risen to the occasion in a time of crisis.”

When pressed by Kelly over Steele’s criticism, Priebus responded, “I’m not going to get into that kind of engagement.”

Watch the segment below via Fox News:

RELATED: RNC Chair Accuses MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts Of Asking Question ‘Loaded With DNC Talking Points’

Bob Schieffer started out the interview by bringing up the Newsweek cover depicting Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as Roman warriors, and uncomfortably asked Priebus if he’s ever seen Gingrich shirtless. Priebus vehemently denied it, but more seriously, he doubted the race was tearing up the Republican party as much as the media has been making it out to be. After all, he pointed out, current DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Florida primary, and accused Obama of being a hypocrite at one point.

But Schieffer pointed to remarks made earlier on the show by Donald Trump that there is an unprecedented level of “hatred” in the Republican party right now, and asked Priebus if he thought any of the intra-party fighting going on could damage the GOP. He dismissed such concerns, reassuring everyone that in a few months, all the squabbling will be over and the party will mobilize behind a nominee.

“In a few months, this is all going to be ancient history, and we’re going to talk about our own little Captain Schettino, which is President Obama, who’s abandoning the ship here in the United States and is more interested in campaigning than doing his job as president.”

RELATED: DNC & RNC Heads Clash Over President Obama’s Economic Record On Face The Nation

When Schieffer asked him to clarify that statement, Priebus doubled down, and joked that the boats behind Schieffer on camera made him think of it. But Priebus continued to insist that the fighting going on the GOP this time around is no worse than what the Democrats did four years ago, and even disagreed with Sarah Palin‘s assessment that the race was down to the Republican establishment vs. conservative activists.

Watch the video below, courtesy of CBS:

Unconcerned by the current crop of candidates in-party bickering, he sounded hopeful that any one of them could bring a corrective “authenticity” into the White House. ”We’re going to have a rigorous primary on our side of the aisle and I think that’s what the American people are looking for,” he told George Stephanpoulos, promising he would not play “referee.” “I think we’re sort of done with the staged speeches, the pageantry, and the talking.”

And of Obama’s leadership, which he likened to a rotting fish head, he said:

“I don’t think the president has led, I think that he’s frustrated even his own base. You saw that in New York just two nights ago when even Democrats are saying ‘Look, we don’t like the direction that even Barack Obama is taking this country.’ And he’s going to have to answer to that.”

Watch the discussion from Good Morning America:

 

O’Donnell opened the discussion asking about the appropriateness of a vacation for the President at this time, given the economic situation. Gillespie took the first shot, noting that he didn’t “begrudge him” a vacation, since “I’m sure it’s exhausting, wrecking an economy as big as the United States’.” The jokes out of the way, Gillespie added on a serious note that he did see that the “optics aren’t great”– either of the vacation or the bus tour, which both have melded in some ways as a compound talking point– and that he couldn’t imagine the response Democrats would have had if President Bush had done the same.

McAuliffe actually didn’t go full on the attack with this point, instead arguing that the problem with the jobs situation wasn’t the President, but that America “needs legislation” and a Republican-dominated House wouldn’t write it. He then added that, in his new capacity as an executive at a green technology business, he knew what creating jobs was about, and he was “sick and tired of the political speeches,” later continuing to add that “the public is sick of it.”

Gillespie didn’t take his eye off the ball, however, attack President Obama for not doing enough to fix the economy, and arguing that President Bush had the longest period of successive job growth in modern history. “The President can complain about bad luck; the reality is it’s bad policy.” McAuliffe didn’t entirely argue against that, instead diverting the attention to Congress: “I wish the President and the Congress would’ve taken this up in January,” he admitted, but as that was not happening, he argued Congress was to blame for being devoted to taking down the President rather than fixing the economy.

Watching these two duke it out again is tremendous fun for anyone lamenting the lack of fireworks between Reince Preibus and Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz– and we can only hope Michael Steele gets in on the action at some point.

The segment via CBS below:

Priebus’ visit to The Situation Room began with a rapidfire segment where Blitzer asked about various topics, but first and foremost he asked the RNC Chairman for his opinion on Huckabee. Does Priebus think Huckabee owes the President an apology for following up his claim that he grew up in Kenya with a reference to a type of Muslim school the President never attended? “I don’t think he owes the President an apology,” Priebus responded. “We have freedom of speech in this country, I suppose he can have his own opinion.” While Priebus appeared to want to leave it at that, and Blitzer didn’t push too hard on that point, he did ask whether Pribus understood Huckabee’s agenda, or at least his strategy should he be considering running.

Here Priebus was far more tight-lipped. “I can’t speak for where Mike Huckabee is coming from, I wouldnt pretend to try, and it’s not my position to do that.” Blitzer didn’t push the point, nor could one really expect Priebus to get agitated had he tried. Nothing quite evinces Steele-era nostalgia like Reince Priebus answering a question on a hot topic within his party with all the fury of a sedated Mr. Rogers.

The segment via CNN below:

Maddow introduced the segment with an extensive attack on the Republicans’ plan to cut spending, mocking them for wanting to cut spending on Amtrak (“War on trains! Real Americans sit in traffic!”), and noting that their attacks on moderate, libertarian social positions was alive and kicking despite people like Steele saying the “culture wars” were over. “That should not have made a ripple,” she argued.

Her introduction over, Steele playfully tsk-tsked her. “What am I going to do with you?” he joked, “I don’t even know where to begin.” He tackled the culture war issue by arguing that, while the debates are still ongoing, they occur much closer to home nowadays, keeping the issues away from the national spotlight. Maddow expressed general frustration at trying to reconcile the desire to bring social issues to the national scale with Republican, small-government ideas, once again hitting a wall because, while Steele also agreed the budget was a far more important issue, social issues take precedent in the media because they’re “sexy, juicy, fun to talk about.”

For such a hard-hitting debate, Steele and Maddow are equally fiery and have the sort of chemistry– forceful on issues but personally warm to each other– that makes for great cable news. Save a surprise contract elsewhere, it’s not a stretch to imagine MSNBC will want Steele on Maddow’s show more often than not in the future.

The segment via MSNBC below:

The New York Post is reporting that Steele may be a permanent presence on cables news long before the public has forgotten his RNC tenure. “Fox News and CNN are both talking to former RNC chairman Michael Steele about coming on as a paid contributor,” the paper reports, though notes that neither network has officially stated that they are negotiating. CNN declined to comment to the paper, while Fox News simply replied that they are talking to “several potential contributors” without naming any. The report is based on “a source.”

This is consistent with Steele’s comments earlier in the week that he sees a place for himself in the political future “doin’ some TV here and there,” with where he will ultimately land likely more of a business issue than what positions he will likely take. Many former party chairmen– equally colorful DNC chair Terry McAuliffe comes quickly to mind– took to the airwaves once their responsibility to the party was fulfilled. Yet Steele’s timing to acquire a regular platform on TV, should the reports be true, must be troubling for those in the Republican Party that voted him out. His potential antics may be of particular concern to new chairman Reince Preibus, who is routinely described as mild-mannered and low-key and may now have to compete with Steele for attention.

[h/t TV Newser]

Combative to the end, Steele left his position reminding the party of the progress Republicans made in the two years he led the party, despite his knack for becoming political satire fodder and what many in the party considered questionable spending. “I hope you all appreciate the legacy I leave, despite the noise. Despite the difficulties, we won,” Steele told a crowd of supporters as he withdrew from the race, releasing his supporters for another round of voting until Preibus, in the seventh round, clinched the job.

His successor, Preibus, meanwhile entered the position with a plea for unity, telling the crowd, “we all recognize that there is a steep hill here ahead of us, and the only way we will be able to move forward is if we’re all together.” Unlike Steele, Preibus is routinely described as “mild-mannered” and “soft-spoken,” and is expected to help the Republican Party remedy its financial and woo new donors to stock up for the 2012 elections. Keeping a low profile and letting the candidates speak for the party will certainly be a new tactic for the GOP in light of the Steele years, and it appears that in Preibus the party found precisely the diametric opposite to their current chairman they were looking for. Preibus defeated fellow candidates Maria Cino, Saul Anuzis, and Ann Wagner to nab the top spot.

There are a number of funny highlights, but perhaps my personal favorite is the sudden makeover of former Missouri state chairwoman Ann Wagner, “who clearly didn’t get the memo on how a Republican woman is supposed to look in 2010.” Through the magic of TV graphics and digital imagery Wagner look suddenly changes: she gets bangs, a leather jacket, something called “zipples” and a bedazzled flag pin, after witch Stewart exclaims, “you’ve been Grizzlied!”

Stewart also touched briefly on the prospective candidate’s stances on supporting what some see ass an anti-gay position on marriage from the National Organization for Marriage; to which all five answered affirmatively, with varying degrees of lip service to the “individuality” and “dignity” of gay people, the classic “No offense, but you’re not equal.” For a more thorough column on that particular issue, I encourage you to read Tommy Christopher‘s interesting and provocative piece on the topic.

Watch the segment from Comedy Central below:

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele enjoyed a rocky tenure leading the RNC, yet the fun is likely to be over very soon. Politico reports that Steele “faces an all-but-impossible path to reelection this month, as a majority of the RNC’s 168 members indicate that they will not support the controversial chairman for another term.”

The job of Chairman requires the officeholder raise a lot of money and essentially “do no harm” with their public statements, and critics have long felt that Steele inadequately performed both tasks. Regarding his likely replacement, one of the RNC members not supporting Steele shared with Politico a blunt concern, “if you’re going replace an African-American chairman, you better look for something more unique than a white man from the Midwest.”

Check out the full article.

The report from Fox News below:

Steele, of course, thanked “[Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell and the Senate leadership” for getting Majority Leader Harry Reid to abandon an earmark-filled omnibus spending bill, and expressed hope that the deal to extend the Bush tax cuts would pass in the House. Notably, he also declined to join Hannity in ripping the six Senate Republicans who didn’t back making the Bush tax cuts permanent, and the nine Republican senators who allowed voting on a new START treaty to begin – rather, Steele urged Hannity to remember that “there’s gotta be a balancing act” and that “there’s a lot more behind that vote than the casting of it.”

Finally, Hannity asked Steele to address his critics: Steele replied that “the job isn’t done,” and that he’s running for re-election because “I don’t believe in quitting a fight.” He also defended his fundraising record, noting that the party’s brought in almost $190 million since last year. Hannity, for his part, was baffled that the Republicans had “the best midterm election in 70 years, and there’s still infighting.” There certainly wasn’t any infighting on this night between Hannity and Steele, though. Video of their interview, via Fox News, below.

After rattling off a bunch of Steele’s controversies including calling Afghanistan Obama’s “war of choice,” engaging in a war of words with Rush Limbaugh, and spending money at a lesbian bondage themed nightclub, Stewart is rightly puzzled over why Steele thinks running for a second term would be a good idea. Especially, since Stewart also plays clips of many Republicans and FOX News hosts criticizing Steele, with Neil Cavuto most humorously telling Steele to his face “everyone hates you.”

Puppet Steele though does not shy away from a challenge and dismisses the critics by saying “talking smack is a sign of respect.” Enjoy the clip to see how many times the puppet replaces real words with the word “bibble” or just see if you can stop yourself from laughing at merely the voice of Puppet Steele.

Watch the funny clip from Comedy Central‘s The Daily Show below:

Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin report:

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele plans to announce his reelection plans on Monday evening, and key supporters expect him to drop out of the hotly contested race, top Republicans tell POLITICO.

A new chairman will be elected next month, during the committee’s winter meeting.

Steele, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, has built no known reelection team or structure, making a campaign unlikely in the face of competition that grows fiercer by the day. But allies said Steele has not revealed his plans, and the chairman has been nothing if not unpredictable.

Republicans reaped heavy publicity in January 2009 when they chose Steele as the party’s first African-American chairman, but he has proven to be a poor fund-raiser and gaffe-prone messenger.

Challengers for his job include Wisconsin Republican Chair Reince Priebus; Ann Wagner of Missouri, a former co-chair of the RNC; Maria Cino, a longtime Republican official who is backed by former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie and former Vice President Dick Cheney; Saul Anuzis, former Michigan Republican chairman; and Gentry Collins, who was RNC political director until last month.

Read the full story here.

Tea Party Nation leader Judson Phillips says in his letter to Palin that without her at the helm of the RNC, the party will fall back into “establishment” hands.

“We need you as Chairman of the RNC. You have shown in the past no hesitation to take on the establishment. You did it in Alaska,” Phillips writes in the letter. “If we end up with establishment control of the GOP and their support for an establishment candidate in 2012, Obama and the socialists will have won…We need someone who will put conservatives in control of the party apparatus, not RINOs.”

The letter takes a shot at current RNC chair Michael Steele, who Phillips writes has “spent Republican money with the gusto of a liberal.” The letter references the numerous criticisms of Steele’s fiscal management of the RNC.

“Something is really wrong with the GOP when the RNC cannot fund a get out the vote campaign for mid-term elections,” Phillips writes.

Phillips writes that Palin has the collection of skills and national appeal to right the RNC ship in time to take on President Obama in 2012.

“You have an unbelievable ability to light up a crowd and to raise money. Both of which the Republican Party needs,” Phillips writes. “The GOP needs a conservative who can raise money and energize the troops. You are the only one out there with these unique talents.”

Palin has been seen as a natural ally of Steele’s heading into the January chair election, which Steele has not officially said he’ll be a part of yet. While many other prominent Republicans kept their distance from the gaffe-prone Steele over the past year, Palin joined Steele at several stops on his GOTV bus tour this fall and there’s been speculation that Palin might endorse Steele’s bid for a second term if he runs.

For his part, Phillips is prone to making big promises on behalf of the tea party movement other activists often distance themselves from. Phillips planned to play host to the second national tea party convention in Las Vegas before the event collapsed under open hostility from Nevada tea party and what appeared to be a lack of ticket sales.

Phillips has become a source of tea party headlines however, recently causing a national stir with his call to “retire” Muslim members of Congress.

Read the full Tea Party Nation letter, which the group says on its website will be “sent to Sarah Palin in the next few days,” here:

Dear Governor Palin,

John Kennedy once said, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

Right now, your country needs you as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

We are in a fight for the survival of our country. The Democrats have walked off the socialist cliff and are driving the country headlong into the abyss. Unfortunately, there are many on the Republican side who do not seem to get it. They are the embodiment of the old political joke that says, with the Democrats you get more of the same and with Republicans you get less of the same.

We need you as Chairman of the RNC. You have shown in the past no hesitation to take on the establishment. You did it in Alaska. If we end up with establishment control of the GOP and their support for an establishment candidate in 2012, Obama and the socialists will have won. An establishment candidate will not work to repeal Obamacare and the other programs Obama, Pelosi and Reid have put in place. We need someone who will put conservatives in control of the party apparatus, not RINOs.

Michael Steele has spent Republican money with the gusto of a liberal. You showed in Alaska, you know how to put the brakes on unnecessary spending.

Finally, you are a superstar. You have an unbelievable ability to light up a crowd and to raise money. Both of which the Republican Party needs. Something is really wrong with the GOP when the RNC cannot fund a get out the vote campaign for mid-term elections. The GOP needs a conservative who can raise money and energize the troops. You are the only one out there with these unique talents.

We, the undersigned, are asking you to ask yourself what you can do for your country and to step up and become a candidate for Chairman of the RNC.

Thank you for your consideration and for what you continue to do for this great country.

Judson Phillips, Founder – Tea Party Nation

Note – this post was written by Evan McMorris-Santoro. for Talking Points Memo and is re-purposed here via a content sharing agreement.

RNC Chief Administrative Officer Boyd Rutherford is quoted as telling Derek Flowers, a member of the RNC’s political team by email “We will not be able to pay off the vendors this week.”

Cillizza reports Flowers, who had previously told vendors he would stay on the job until every bill was paid, will instead be leaving his post at the RNC today.

Capitol Hill paper The Hill has previously written about the RNC’s spending problems, suggesting that so much money was spent in 2009 that the RNC was left “with its worst election-year cash flow this decade.”

The spending has played a key role in the future of RNC chair Michael Steele:

The RNC had $22.8 million in cash and no debt when Michael Steele was elected chairman at the end of January, but has since seen its cash on hand drop to less than $9 million at the end of November.

Over the previous five months, while governors’ battles were being waged in New Jersey and Virginia, the committee saw its cash reserves drop by a full $15 million. Through November, the committee spent more than $90 million last year, which is nearly $20 million more than the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Nearly a month after the Republicans captured the House and made significant inroads in the Senate, resistance to Steele has snowballed rather than diminished, even though Steele himself has not decided whether he will run for reelection:

A significant bloc of Republican National Committee members wants embattled chairman Michael Steele to step aside, but the rank and file have failed to settle on a clear alternative, according to Associated Press interviews with committee members.

More than four dozen interviews with members of the 168-member central committee found fear that a badly damaged Steele could emerge from the wreckage of a knockdown, drag-out fight to head the party as it challenges President Barack Obama in 2012. While most agree that Steele’s time has been rough — and costly — the members also recognize that a leadership fight could overshadow gains that Republicans made in the midterm elections.

The biggest complaint against Steele is the amount of money his RNC has spent in comparison the amount he has raised, especially in private circles. The AP quotes one committee member as expressing concern about “spending the kind of money they’re spending every month just to operate the RNC.” Another major concern is toppling President Obama in 2012, something many doubt Steele has the capacity of doing– despite similar concerns of his incompetence having little negative effect on the November elections.

Steele isn’t receiving much support from pundits, either. The conjecture piqued debate on CNN yesterday, where Republican strategist Alex Castellanos argued that, despite Republicans enjoying their biggest congressional gains in centuries, Steele doesn’t get to reap the rewards of the effort that got the Republicans there. That segment from yesterday’s Situation Room below:

Here’s the long sentence that Gov. Barbour used to not answer (but actually did answer) Cavuto’s question, “Do you think Michael Steele should keep [his] job?”:

Well that’s up to the Committee, and I will say that this time the RNC was not able to do what they’ve often done in the past, and the Governor’s Association, the Senate and House Campaign Committees, and others had to scramble around and increase their gathering of resources beyond what normally would’ve been the case because the RNC was not able to do what it had done in the past.

Aaaaand breathe. “You know, Neil,” Barbour added, “You could infer, but I’m not trying to imply.”

Watch one man infer something that another man isn’t (but really is) trying to imply in this clip from Fox News:

Think Progress, the website that first put the US Chamber of Commerce in the spotlight, points out that the absence of disclosure rules is the real problem:

In fact, neither the Post nor the Times “refudiated” the ThinkProgress report. Both merely quoted Chamber of Commerce officials who only discussed the limited “AmCham” funds, only one of several avenues for foreign funding of the Chamber. Both articles recognized that there is no outside oversight of the Chamber’s money flow. “Money, however, is fungible,” the New York Times editorial board explained, “and it is impossible for an outsider to know whether the group is following its rules.” As the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent writes, “The Chamber still hasn’t addressed in any detail the core allegation against it.”

Only Gillespie has made the “charge of illegal criminal activity.” Although it is illegal to solicit foreign funds for electioneering, the essential fact is that there are no disclosure requirements that provide oversight to know whether or not the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is obeying the law. The Chamber successfully lobbied to kill the DISCLOSE Act, which would have closed the loopholes opened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

Regarding the Center for American Progress, which Gillespie invokes, Think Progress notes:

Unlike the Chamber, the Koch brothers, and Ed Gillespie, the Center for American Progress strongly supports the DISCLOSE Act and broad campaign finance reform.

In fairness to Gillespie, the NY Times article takes a skeptical view of Think Progress’ charge, at least as recounted by President Obama:

“Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign corporations,” Mr. Obama said. “So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections.”

But a closer examination shows that there is little evidence that what the chamber does in collecting overseas dues is improper or even unusual, according to both liberal and conservative election-law lawyers and campaign finance documents.

In fact, the controversy over the Chamber of Commerce financing may say more about the Washington spin cycle — where an Internet blog posting can be quickly picked up by like-minded groups and become political fodder for the president himself — than it does about the vagaries of campaign finance.

This conclusion completely misses the point, however. The problem isn’t the US Chamber of Commerce, but rather, the flaw in campaign finance rules that it reveals.

Hopefully, though, we can all agree on one thing here: “refudiate” still isn’t a word.

Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie: They’re Bush cronies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: They’re shills for big business. And they’re stealing our democracy. Spending millions from secret donors to elect Republicans to do their bidding in Congress. It appears they’ve even taken secret foreign money to influence our elections. It’s incredible: Republicans benefiting from secret foreign money. Tell the Bush crowd and the Chamber of Commerce: Stop stealing our democracy.

The foreign money remark is a reference to an argument President Obama has returned to of late, namely SCOTUS’s decision to open up campaign donations to corporations last January also opened the door to anonymous foreign donations. From the NYT:

“Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign corporations,” Mr. Obama said. “So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections.”

But a closer examination shows that there is little evidence that what the chamber does in collecting overseas dues is improper or even unusual, according to both liberal and conservative election-law lawyers and campaign finance documents.

Money quote, as they say:

In fact, the controversy over the Chamber of Commerce financing may say more about the Washington spin cycle — where an Internet blog posting can be quickly picked up by like-minded groups and become political fodder for the president himself — than it does about the vagaries of campaign finance.

Indeed. Though it probably should be noted that much of the concern over these large donations has focused more on their anonymity rather than the legality. The fact SCOTUS has made these donations legal, in fact, is what inspired Obama in the first place to include his SCOTUS scolding in his SOTU address earlier this year. Watch the ad below.

Maybe that’s what makes him the perfect person for the job, evidenced by his fantastic, emotional apology to Michael Steele last night.

It is conceivable that no one has said anything so genuine, so sincere, so damn nice about RNC Chairman Michael Steele ever on national television – and it came from an MSNBC host. And it came after an introduction to an interview (that both sides enjoyed) included language Steele deemed to have racial undertones.

O’Donnell described Steele as “dancing as fast he can” while “never losing sight of his real master,” the RNC. Steele responded in a phone message, which O’Donnell played on the air. “I’ve had to put up with that crap my entire political life,” said the RNC Chair. “So, really disappointed in your reference there.”

“I called him back immediately and apologized,” said O’Donnell. “He could have not been more gracious and forgiving.” O’Donnell said Steele noted the “apology on the phone was more than anyone else had done who had slighted him in the past.”

In his “Rewrite” segment, he changed his intro from the night before (although kept in the dancing part), and while he did take a mild shot at Steele for not stepping up and condemning the Carl Paladino emails (“I think we all know what Michael Steele would like to say about his New York candidate’s emails”), he closed with a pause, and, “Mr. Chairman, I sincerely apologize.”

Let’s start with a simple question: WWKOD (What Would Keith Olbermann Do)? Here’s Olbermann last night attacking Rick Sanchez for not apologizing enough. Now Michael Steele himself is no stranger to feeling heat for the way he’s phrased certain statements (although there isn’t the added racial element). And he has been attacked hard by the left and the right. It takes a cable news host taking a public figure completely seriously to apologize in this way, and O’Donnell proved he can avoid the bomb-throwing and vitriol, and politics, in favor of sincerity.

When Rachel Maddow first premiered, there were high hopes she was on this path. She was clearly left-wing, but she wasn’t angry or dismissive. She had Pat Buchanan during her first week for his own segment “It’s Pat!” But while Maddow is still seen as fair by many, her show features fewer and fewer guests outside of the left world. O’Donnell has accomplished this, but there is another anti-cable news element that is working for his show – theatrics.

It’s hard to argue that a memorable moment like the apology last night didn’t have a dash of West Wing to it, sincere as it was. O’Donnell’s history in Hollywood and as a political drama show writer lends itself to a unique quality in the cable news sphere: he gets what you want. He also gets that, even on cable news, he has to put on an entertaining show. It’s what made the Levi Johnston interview so great – it wasn’t rude or argumentative, it was just a fantastically executed idea.

The Last Word is off to a strong start in the ratings for MSNBC, which O’Donnell knows matter. But more importantly, it’s off to a very anti-cable news start – and in a world of repeaters, surprising candor and entertainment is appreciated.

Here’s the segment last night:

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The GOP leader was in Vegas to support the Tea Party-endorsed Sharron Angle‘s run against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Borrowing from the Rod Blagojevich school of rhetoric, Steele said:

What has captured the nation’s attention is this little thing called the Senate race. And I’m here to tell you, the people of Nevada, a Senate seat is an awful thing to waste. Do not waste it by re-electing Harry Reid. Let’s elect Sharron Angle the next senator from this state.

CNN points out, however, that there’s still bad blood amongst conservatives regarding Angle’s defeat of Republican Party favorite Danny Tarkanian in the primary. Steele wanted to mitigate any such tensions, tell his rallyers:

Please. Can we stop this silly noise about the Tea Party and the GOP fighting eachother? We are locked hand in hand to unseat Harry Reid and elect Sharron Angle.

With four weeks left until midterm elections, the absence of noise — silly or not — seems very unlikely.

It started when host Bob Schieffer pointed out that Steele has basically been in “bunker mode” and out of the public eye recently. He then asked Rollins if the Republican party needed to do something about Steele. This is how Rollins responded:

“Well, there’s no time. Obviously he’s been a disaster. You have three men on this show — not me, but the other three — who have all been party chairmen and very distinguished party chairmen. Michael Steele has failed miserably in the things you’re supposed to do — raise money and basically go out and articulate the message. It’s not going to matter though. In 11 weeks from now, what he says and does in the next 11 weeks is not going to matter.”

As painful as all that disaster talk is, the way Rollins makes it clear that he really doesn’t care about Steele at this point may be worse. Sure, he’s just trying to move away from a touchy subject for his party, but it’s one thing to say someone’s doing a bad job and another to flat out say they don’t matter. All in all, not a moment that Steele’s going to want to save on his DVR.

But why was he trying to set up meetings with foreign diplomats?

Politico reports today on the series of emails sent from an RNC intern attempting to set up meetings with diplomats before the November election:

An RNC intern sent a message late last month to at least one ambassador on behalf of Neil Alpert, a senior finance aide, with little explanation.

“As you know, the November election is just 103 days away and the Chairman would like to extend to you an invitation to sit down either at the RNC or at your embassy to discuss the upcoming 2010 midterm elections,” wrote Christopher Kelleher, a finance department intern. “With literally hundreds of congressional seats up for grabs in just under four months, Chairman Steel [sic] would love to have the opportunity to discuss the Party’s outlook with you.”

Yes, that would be misspelled, unsolicited emails to foreign diplomats. Odd – but also somewhat unnecessary. “They can’t give any money and they can’t vote,” said former RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson. “I don’t know why you’d take time to do it.”

Well Politico has a theory – or at least some details about the way it appears. “The idea that he would be looking for face-time with foreign ambassadors instead of trying to raise money for the party underscores the view that he’s in the job to promote himself instead of the GOP,” writes Jonathan Martin and Josh Gerstein.

It’s actually pretty impressive that, despite the wide variety of mishaps over his reign as RNC Chairman, Steele remains head of the party. But he’s currently in the mode of avoiding the media – a tough attribute while he tries to prop up his party in the lead-up to important midterm elections. These emails, while more outlandish than outrageous, get put on the long, strange list.

For what it’s worth, one thing the RNC has had prior success with is back today – funny e-cards! Today, in honor of Pres. Obama’s birthday: BaracksBirthdayCards.com.

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According to Politico, the announcement noted that it was a “scheduling change” and that RNC spokesman Doug Heye commented that the party is “working on scheduling and we fully plan to have another event based on existing trips to California.” The reason for the scheduling change was not given, nor an exact date for the new event, but it seems that, whatever the reason, the event will end up taking place further away from the epicenter of the Sherrod scandal and closer to Election Day.

Politico also notes that Steele canceled an appearance today with the National Association of Black Journalists, in a similar event to the one where Sherrod announced that she planned to sue Breitbart. Steele cited food poisoning as the reason for the cancellation.

It’s called the “Obama Chicago Network,” a website for the new cable channel with all your favorite Obama corruption programming. The promo for the network– featuring such exciting programming as “Dancing with the Law” (the Robert Gibbs competition), “I’m a Politician, Get Me Out of Here!” (the Rod Blagojevich reality show), and “The Colorado Hills” (a drama starring Andrew Romanoff)– is a play on NBC’s new “More Colorful” campaign, but the website’s hot pink skyline backdrop and network slogan are a lot more HBO than NBC. The slogan, “It’s not TV– it’s reality,” is actually a play on “It’s not TV; it’s HBO.” And aside from the “channel’s” main promo, there are plenty of videos advertising the other programs.

The video and website hit at the soft, mushy core of right-wingers’ biggest complaints about Obama– that he is a corrupt Chicago mobster type whose exploits are stranger than fiction, and the stuff reality TV producers dream of. By doing this, though, they risk alienating more moderate voters that have a hard time equating Obama with Al Capone– or even Rod Blagojevich– no matter how much they disagree with his policies. It also subtly hints at the old 2008 Republican meme of Obama as Celebrity that didn’t even work back then and feels even rustier in light of the many problems facing his administration.

That said, this is potentially one of the more successful so-crazy-it-might-just-work campaigns Steele has spearheaded. In terms of production value and quality of message, on a scale of the GOP.com URL shortener to the Rahm Emanuel Valentine’s Day Cards, this online effort from the RNC probably ranks up there with the 2008 Obama/David Hasselhoff German attack ad: goofy, ridiculous, but precisely the kind of red meat the Republican base loves. It’s also a project whose comic appeal extends a bit further than the base, this time in a way that isn’t completely damaging to the Republicans.

Watch the promo for the new Obama Chicago Network below:

From ABC News:

“One GOP insider described the six-figure payment to outgoing RNC Chief of Staff Kenneth K. McKay IV – negotiated even though McKay had scarcely a year on the job — as “hush money” to keep a former employee from divulging details of Michael Steele’s controversial tenure as RNC chair.

Party insiders told ABC News the six-figure payout represented McKay’s severance package, and came in exchange for him signing a strict confidentiality agreement. Two RNC sources, both of whom spoke on the condition they not be identified, said similar deals were struck with others who had been forced out in the last few months. Both sources have been critical of Steele’s leadership. They said in separate interviews that, while they were not alleging that anything illegal took place, they believe the McKay agreement and others like it are aimed at preventing the departing cast of employees from disparaging Steele. McKay, who had received $163,000 in salary payments, did not respond to messages left at his home in Rhode Island.”

When ABC contacted RNC spokesman Doug Heye about the allegations, he pointed out that a confidentiality agreement is nothing out of the ordinary, however, he would not comment on the payments. Is there something sinister going on or is ABC making a mountain (and a provocative headline) out of a molehill? Since the sources themselves are saying that the money isn’t to hide anything illegal, it seems like an awful lot of money to dole out just to keep people from bad mouthing your boss.

The House Republican Leadership certainly deserves some credit for trying something new. In a further bid to be seen as the party of the people, they announced yesterday that they had created a website called America’s Speaking Out where users can give their opinions on issues that they think Republicans should tackle in their quest to regain control this November. Unfortunately, while the idea is clever and well-intentioned, it’s also a little bit naive. As anyone who has ever been in a message board ever will tell you, the internet is full of crazy people. Lots and lots of crazy people.

In a post earlier today entitled “Republicans’ new Web site not exactly what they hoped it would be”, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank points out that the comments posted on the site so far have mostly run the gamut all the way from moronic to even more moronic. While some of them are insightful and well thought out, the rest are racist, offensive, and just plain bizarre.

Here are a few samples from when I checked out the “American Values” section of the site earlier today, and sadly I wasn’t cherry-picking:

• “Consensual love is just that; consensual. There is no reason to forbid two intelligent consenting entities from engaging in relations, logically, because legislating a victimless crime on the basis of morality is against the American way. Therefore, the government should stop misusing Animal Abuse laws to convict zoophiles and remove them from their animalistic loved ones. Consensual bestiality should not be illegal. No, I am not joking. Everything I’ve said is logically sound.”
• “We should administer capital punishment to anyone who has an abortion. In order to cut costs that the death penalty normally entails, we will have lax gun laws that will allow people to obtain guns with greater ease. Then we would allow the “free-market” to dictate whose philosophy wins out – the liberals irrational philosophy or our logical and God following philosophy. Liberals who have abortions would be taken care of by a militia of the willing who will get rid of all liberals who take the life others irrationally and will allow us to remove all of our opponents to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
• “End the LIBERAL mith of EVOLUSION. My gran-dady aint no monkey”
• “all leaders should proclaim faith in Jesus Christ. anyone who does not, like muslims and atheists should be removed from office.”
• “They need to do way instain mother> who k*ll thier babbys. becuse these babby cant frigth back? it was on the news this mroing a mother in ar who had k*ll her three kids. they are taking the three babby back to new york too lady to rest my pary are with the father who lost his children ; i am truley sorry for your lots”
• “Liberals constantly whine about how government $ is needed for roads, libraries, etc. Once you back down on that front, everything else follows! I own a Dodge Baby Ram that can pretty much cover any terrain in America. Let’s end taxes completely, let the roads go bad and see who comes out on top! Somehow I think liberals will find new things to whine about once they can’t read books on subsidy (library) or drive to their grocery store without a struggle! The easier you make these people’s lives, the more problems they cause for folks like me!”
• “What is real and what is just an illusion? Does all truth evaporate like a cloud of fog in the sun? If I email someone, how do I know it is really them responding to me, and not just some boilerplate automatic response, or their publicist? What about the private postal services? Where to they stand on the issue of reality vs. illusion?”
• “We should let gays love on goats while they are walking down the aisle. Freedom of expression, y’all!”

Yep, consider the country saved. Obviously, many of these are trolls just messing with the site, but how are the administrators going to tell them apart from people who are just, well, crazy. And how are the politicians going to get any real ideas from comments that are nearly entirely like the ones posted here? It’s really too bad because it was kind of a nifty idea and the Republicans had high hopes for it.

From the Washington Post:

“GOP leaders seemed to have something else in mind as they rolled out their new site. ‘I would expect the ideas that come out of this Web site and the involvement of our members will lead to ideas that we can attempt to implement today,’ House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) proclaimed. ‘We want to continue to offer better solutions to address the problems that America is facing, and we see this as a giant step forward, directly engaging the American people in the development of those solutions.’”

Well, it appears the Republicans in the House were a little too optimistic about the kind of discourse one finds on the internet. That’s ok. There are some Democrats in the Senate who don’t even understand ATMs.

(h/t Washington Post)