Mark Schmitt explains that as the GOP gives up on Michael Steele, the real impact of the Citizens United decision will be felt:
It turns out banks aren’t the only things that can be too big to fail. Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, seems securely ensconced in his position despite his frequent off-message remarks, massive overspending on travel and luxury items, and his invocation of the race card at the oddest moments. Sure, race will protect him somewhat — he won the chairmanship because the party elders liked the idea of an African American chair more than the reality of Steele — but he’s hardly the first high-ranking executive to have “failed upward” — a phenomenon white men have been taking advantage of for decades.
Often it’s easier to work around such people than to remove them. And work around him is exactly what the Republican Party seems prepared to do. At least one “shadow RNC” is being formed, under the name American Crossroads, with a virtual Social Register of GOP names, including Karl Rove and former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie, behind it, and a stated goal of raising $50 million for the 2010 midterms. Other conservative leaders, such as Tony Perkins of the Family Leadership Council, have encouraged donors to give to independent right-wing organizations, rather than to the RNC, which spent more than it raised during the first quarter of this year.