Steele supporters: There’s a path to victory at the RNC

The chairman’s allies believe he has a solid bloc of 45-to-50 votes on the committee—a figure that even some of his detractors do not dispute—and they feel that no other candidate will be able to muster enough votes to prevent Steele from getting to the 85 needed to win, especially if the election takes several ballots as in 2009…

“The election speaks for itself,” said Rogers, a Steele supporter. “I was frankly surprised people were contemplating other leadership. There remain hard feelings from the last election and some people haven’t gotten over it.”

The pitch Steele’s allies are making is two-fold. They point to his wildly successful tenure in terms of GOP election victories and insist those critical of his fundraising are misleading RNC members and the media. They also say that those lobbying against Steele from within the committee are motivated either by their ties to one of the Republicans gearing up for a presidential run, or by lingering bitterness over Steele’s narrow six-ballot victory the last time around.