Poll: How Long Before Michael Steele Resigns?

RNC Chairman Michael Steele finds himself in the now-familiar position of having to clarify comments made during an interview. Last week, he faced a similar quandary after openly criticizing Rush Limbaugh. Today, he's trying to explain his perplexing remarks to GQ magazine in which Steele called abortion a matter of "individual choice."

Though most Americans agree with Steele on the abortion question, the Republican party most certainly does not. So, the man who proclaimed himself the leader of the GOP had a whole lot of explaining to do today to an ever exasperated segment Republican audience. What's interesting is that Steel--rather than offer his explanation from his own lips, and risk another potentially damaging interview--released a statement through an RNC spokesman, Read the statement here.

Tony Perkins, of the staunchly anti-abortion group Family Research Council, wrote the following about this latest Steele matter:

"I expressed my concerns to the chairman earlier this week about previous statements that were very similar in nature. He assured me as chairman his views did not matter and that he would be upholding and promoting the Party platform, which is very clear on these issues."

Emphasis added. Steele's brief tenure as RNC chief has been disastrous. Despite what he may, or may not believe about Rush Limbaugh, hip-hop, or abortion, one of the central functions of a party head is to communicate a clear message to the public. As The American Spectator's Phillip Klein puts it:

The mere fact that we have to have a whole debate over what he means demonstrates that he's doing a terrible job at communicating. And lest we forget, communication was supposed to be his strong suit.

So, we've reached the obvious question.