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Opinion: Don’t take us to your leader

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It’s entirely up to the Republican National Committee whether it should sack RNC Chairman Michael Steele for saying the war in Afghanistan -- which he suggested was a losing proposition -- was a ‘war of Obama’s choosing.’

Steele is a gaffe machine as well as a poor historian. Remember when he said that Republicans couldn’t regain control of the House this year? Or his suggestion that he came in for extra criticism because he was black? And then there was the revelation that the party -- without Steele’s knowledge -- treated donors to a $2,000 night out at what The Times decorously called a ‘sex-themed Hollywood club.’

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Again, it’s all an internal matter. But those on the outside who comment on the Republican Party’s image must be wondering why Steele is in the spotlight at all. It’s a sad commentary on the state of Republican leadership that a glorified fund-raiser is acknowledged by Republicans and Democrats alike as the leader of the GOP. (Quick: Name Steele’s predecessor, or any other national party chairman.) What happened to John McCain or Mitch McConnell?

--Michael McGough

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