Steele must go

GOP Chairman Michael Steele is a talented guy: smart, affable, telegenic, with a gift for gab. He ran a great race for U.S. Senate from one of the toughest states in the nation for a Republican to win, Maryland. I should know, I lost my own race for U.S. Senate in 1986 and no Republican has won the seat in 30 years. But the best thing Steele could do now for the Republican Party is to step aside as chairman of the Republican National Committee…

The party could look to its own elected leaders. There are lots of good people to pick from: Sen. John Thune, Rep. Paul Ryan, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Gov. Mitch Daniels — to name just a few. But all these people are busy with legislative duties or running their states. So why not look to someone who’s been elected — and therefore understands best how elections are won and lost — but is out of office now and isn’t planning to run for office again anytime soon.

Jim Talent comes to mind. A four-term congressman from Missouri, he won a special election for U.S. Senate in 2002 but lost his re-election bid in the Democratic sweep of 2006. He recently announced he won’t be running to fill retiring GOP Sen. Kit Bond’s seat this year, which means he could devote full time to the job.