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Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele is floating the idea of running for his old post again. In an interview on C-SPAN on Sunday, Steele was first asked if he thought current RNC Chairman Reince Priebus should run for another term. Priebus has suggested that he is leaning toward running for reelection.

August 26, 2012 At RNC, Michael Steele is man who doesn’t exist Byron York TAMPA — Republicans gathered at the University Club in downtown Tampa Saturday night to honor GOP chairman Reince Priebus. The event was sponsored by the Wisconsin delegation, which of course represents Priebus’ home state, and the Mississippi delegation, home of former governor and former RNC chairman Haley Barbour. There were several major players there: Priebus himself, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ron Johnson, Barbour and nephew Henry Barbour, former Virginia governor and former RNC chair Jim Gilmore, former chair Mike Duncan, and others. With the presence...

As the GOP nomination process drags on, odds against Republicans seem to be increasing: Voter turnout has dropped, and independents are fleeing Mitt Romney. Turns out, however, that the lengthy contest is just what the former GOP head sought in the first place. "I wanted a brokered convention," Michael Steele tells Mother Jones. It was "one of my goals" in rearranging the Republican nomination process: Steele hoped his party could emulate the excitement of the Democrats' 2008 primary battle.

Morning Joe likes to think of itself as the most scintillating three hours on morning TV. But did the show have a soporific effect on Michael Steele? When the camera cut to him today at 7:50 ET, Steele appeared to be, well, I believe the polite term is "resting his eyes." Hat tip NB reader Susan J, who points out Steele is due considerable slack since he was up late doing primary coverage for MSNBC. Steele rebounded quickly and was able to laugh off the moment. View the video here.

With Mitt Romney winning the Iowa caucus and on track to do well in New Hampshire, conservatives should just give up and rally behind the former Massachusetts governor, MSNBC host Alex Wagner suggested at the open of today's Now with Alex Wagner. Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele was having none of that: ALEX WAGNER, host: Here we are, and there's a lot of, there's Mitt-mentum, as it were. MICHAEL STEELE: Where is it? WAGNER: I don't know, you, well, there's-- STEELE: Where is it?! Twenty-five percent does not momentum make. [...] WAGNER: But there is some thinking that,...

..A few of Newt Gingrich’s… Not-So-Greatest Hits: August 30, 2004: “Now he’s back, preaching the gospel of party moderation. At an Aug. 30 forum held by the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership, Gingrich heralded the GOP’s new, bigger big tent. “Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve argued in favor of electing the moderates,” Gingrich said… He even chastised the fiscally conservative Club for Growth — a group that finances primary challengers to Republican incumbents they deem too liberal — for not getting with the program. “Their strategy is explicitly wrong,” Gingrich said. “The key is to elect more Republicans and have a...

Imagine this scenario: The polished businessman with the smooth and steady hand and the self-starter that appeals to the enthusiastic tea party contingent. Endorsement or no endorsement, move over, Chris Christie. Make room for a Romney–Cain ticket. On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” MSNBC contributor and former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele predicted a Romney partnership with Herman Cain, the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO. “I think what you’re looking at down the road is a Romney–Cain ticket — the merging of Wall Street and Main Street coming together to go up against Obama and Biden and to talk...

A lively GOP debate dissection on today's Morning Joe. Mika really liked Romney's performance, saying among other things that he was "fabulous." She also had surprising praise for Michelle Bachmann. There was consensus that 9-9-9 was "deboned" and that Herman Cain hurt himself badly with his pre-debate answer on releasing terrorists from Gitmo. Michael Steele had a striking way of saying that Perry's aggressiveness backfired. Video and more here.

Bulletin from the Bureau of Pot-Meet-Kettle: Howard Dean has declared that Tea Party Americans "are not playing with a full deck." This not merely from the man who made The Scream famous, but who in the very same segment today had a manic tongue-sticking-out moment [see screen grab] that might have scared pets and small children. Dean also managed to get into a spirited fight with Michael Steele over Obama's 2012 prospects. Dean claims to see an Obama transformed, a candidate "on fire" who is on course to win. Steele soberly pointed to the 9.1% unemployment rate. View the video...

Even as Texas Governor Rick Perry downplays the story of a racist epithet painted on a rock outside a property that he co-leased, black Republicans are not giving him the benefit of the doubt. First came GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, who said yesterday that Perry handled the episode in a “very insensitive” way. And in an interview with TIME on Monday morning, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele also scolded Perry. “It’s very troubling on some many levels, for so many reasons,” Steele said. Steele said questions over when and how clearly the rock had been painted over...

Want incisive news analysis and perspicacious probing of the people and events of the day? Then Mike Barnicle is your man—not. On today's Morning Joe, reacting to Jon Huntsman's criticism of Republicans who reputedly reject science, the former Boston Globe columnist inanely asked former RNC Chairman Michael Steele: "what percentage of Republican delegates who go to the convention do you figure are total nutcases?" Video after the jump.

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele is in negotiations with MSNBC to be a political analyst, according to sources. Steele would be a prominent Republican voice on a network known for its liberal television hosts. If the deal goes through, he would join the cable network in time to offer commentary on the 2012 elections.

After two tumultuous years, the Republican National Committee is getting back to business. The hangover from former RNC chairman Michael Steele’s tenure still hasn’t faded. But the new party chairman, Reince Priebus, has begun to restore order and to replenish the committee’s depleted bank account. Whether he can raise enough money and create the machinery needed to help the party’s 2012 nominee compete against President Obama and his seasoned political operation will be the real test of his chairmanship. Priebus, the former Wisconsin GOP chairman, is taking things a step at a time: restore connections with the party’s major donors,...

It was clear that recently-deposed former RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s appearance on Bill Maher’s Real Time would yield a colorful conversation, and looking back, it probably should have been obvious who would be a main focus of that discussion: Sarah Palin. Maher brought her up quickly, reminding Steele of an appearance on Maher’s show over two years ago when Steele predicted Palin-bashers would one day eat their words. Maher did not eat his words on this night. “She does get a little harder to defend, does she not?” Maher asked Steele, following up with, “Between her and Michele Bachmann, I...

Many are interested in his views on family values and issues as he will play a huge part in Election 2012. “In the December 1, 2010 RNC candidate forum, Priebus provided a few details about his politics. He said he believes the RNC is "part of" the Tea Party movement. He believes in the Christian God. He stated that if he were elected as RNC chair it would be through God's blessing; believes it is the Republican Party's mission to "save our country, to save our party, and to take back the White House.” He believes someone who is "pro-abortion,...

Ann Coulter has something to say about Friday’s Republican National Committee Chairman election, and it isn’t favorable about the results. “Big mistake not to re-elect Michael Steele” Coulter wrote via Twitter, “If he weren’t good, the left wouldn’t hysterically attack him.” Steele lost the Chairman election to Wisconsin Republican Chair Reince Priebus. Steele came in second place in the first round of balloting, with 44 votes to Priebus’ 45 votes, but lost ground in further rounds of voting.

WASHINGTON --Reince Priebus was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday after Michael Steeledropped his bid to stay atop the party for another two years. Priebus clinched the victory after seven rounds, securing 97 votes, more than the 85 required to win. Steele dropped out of the race after four rounds. "At this time, I will step aside for others to lead," Steele told the168 RNC committee members at the Gaylord Resort in National Harbor, Md. "But in so doing, I hope y'all appreciate the legacy we leave. Despite the noise -- because lord know we had a...

From Tritter: Michael Steele drops out of RNC chair race, saying: "It's very clear that the party wants to do something different." - NBC Story developing....

On January 14, this Friday, the leadership of the Republican National Committee will vote on who will be the new chairman. Michael Steele has been one of the most ineffective and damaging chairmen that the Republican party has allowed to lead its chief fundraising organization in recent history. His chairmanship includes: baffling statements on race and culture (lampooned quite well by the Daily Show below)USAToday's own request for his change of parties due to his own conflicted beliefs and history[RINOList.org]two different sex club scandals [Dailycaller.com] & [TheDailyBeast.com]factually inaccurate public statements on the War in Afghanistan [Talkingpointsmemo.com]massive debt in the Republican...

The next chairman of the Republican National Committee will face a money-raising challenge of historic proportions. The unreleased official budget of the RNC reveals that the Republican Party's national governing body and premier fundraising apparatus begins the 2011-12 presidential election cycle more than $20 million in the hole. "A record for any year in the past 30 years," Maria Cino, a candidate for the RNC chairmanship and a former deputy transportation secretary, told The Washington Times. The budget was approved by RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele's Budget Committee. The document also reveals that the RNC will enter the 2012 presidential...