With a return to power in sight, can the GOP hold it together?

Republicans have expressed concern about Mr. Steele’s very high profile and often combative style, as well as his propensity to say intemperate things, like predicting that Republicans would not win the majority in the House this November.

Nick Ayers, the executive director of the Republican Governors Association, said he issued a plea similar to Ms. Lingle’s to party members in a private session. He said he was startled at how members were grousing about Mr. Steele, describing it as counterproductive when he was looking to make big gains in races for governor…

But Dick Armey, a former House majority leader who has become a leader of the Tea Party movement, suggested that it might be unwise for the Republican Party to count on Tea Party support.

“This is not a situation where the grass-roots activists are saying, ‘What can we do to make ourselves attractive to the Republicans?’ ” he said. “It is ‘What can we do to help the Republicans understand what they must do to be attractive to us.’ ”