Newt Gingrich Defends Michael Steele, Warns Against 'Inside-the-Party Cannibalism'

GOP Chairman Michael Steele began the week by candidly telling Sean Hannity that, while Republicans will certainly pick up seats in the House in 2010, they won't win enough to close the Democrats' massive 78-seat advantage. That golden nugget squarely fit the Washington definition of a gaffe, namely: telling the obvious truth that his allies don't want to hear.

Steele's statement drew the unimaginable -- a public rebuke from top Republicans, saying of course they can win enough seats to take back the House. Behind the scenes, Republican aides seethed at the chairman's tin ear, and accused Steele of depleting the RNC's coffers going into the midterm elections.

But rather than backing down, Steele pushed back against his critics in a startling interview with ABC News. In it, Steele says people taking shots at him should "get a life. That's old Washington, that's old ways, and I don't represent that, and that kills them."

He added, 'I've had enough of it. If you don't want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way."

Although inside-the-beltway Republicans would love to fire him, Newt Gingrich came to Steele's defense yesterday during a forum at the Atlanta Commerce Club. Gingrich said he's a fan of Steele, who is "pretty close to what we need." He also warned his fellow Republicans of "inside-the-party cannibalism."

Jim Galloway of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the story of Gingrich's remarks at the club, including his answer to a question about Steele:

"Michael Steele makes a number of old-time Republicans very nervous. He was the [GOP] chairman of a blue state, Maryland. He was the lieutenant governor of that state.

"He comes out of a very different background -- he spent six years at seminary. He is an African-American. He is a physically big guy who's noisy, and I think there are a number of Republicans who wish they could just find a good, boring, old-time Republican to be in that job so he wouldn't make them nervous.

"On the other hand, I think he's pretty close to what we need. He's different, he's gutsy, his book is tough, his book is honest. His book's going to make a number of Republicans mad, because it says we deserved to lose in '06 and '08, and we better learn some lessons from it.

"We have a lot of Republicans who don't want to learn, don't want to change, and don't want to be told it was our fault. They'd like to think it was somebody else's fault. I'm a fan of Steele. I think he is learning, I think he is smart, and I think he ultimately will be a very important part of where we're going.

"I think people ought to relax. There's a group who are so mad at him, that they are feeding the news media and trying to start a fight over Steele. Steele is the chairman. The purpose of the Republican National Committee is to create a majority. They've done a very good job with finances. He's raised a lot of money. We won the governorship of Virginia, we won the governorship of New Jersey. That strikes me as a pretty good starting year for him."