controversy over the party's lavish spending, including a costly night out at a los angeles bondage strip club. the north carolina branch is the first state party to call for steele's resignation. some republicans are worried about how all of this could impact november's elections. >>> a former producer of "survivor" is a prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife after a family vacation in cancun. his wife's body was found in a sewer at the resort where the family had been staying. doctors determined that she died of asphyxiation or a blow to the head. >>> if you suffer from allergies and going out in the pollen-filled morning air's probably not a good idea. and as steve osunsami reports, with the latest heat wave gripping much of the northeast, it's doubly troubling for all of those allergy suffererers. >> reporter: if this year's spring feels and sounds like this -- then, this is why, a pollen explosion like most of the country has never seen. >> this is the worst i've ever experienced with allergies. worst. hands down. >> reporter: her doctor says it's because spring came late. part of

staffers spent a couple thousand dollars on a visit to a lesbian bondages strip club. michael steele had nothing to do with it. >> he did not go. >> oh, come on, how small minded can you be? these guys wanted to relax after a hard day at the office. >> the staffers were fired. >> it is amazing to me that michael steele survive all this but at what point will they tell them -- >> they all survived -- >> it is not easy. >> it takes a large number of state chairmen to come together -- >> let's give him a break. you have for virginia, new jersey, but the big senate race -- >> and it happened because of michael steele? i don't think so. the question is, will he get the message that a lot of people don't want him there? i think is going to be hard for him to give it up. he has never had it so good. this is the best job he has ever had. >> he might want to start riding in the back of the airplane. >> give him another six months -- >> he is a good politician. he might have been okay if he remained in maryland. i don't think he is suited for a job that is supposed be a bureaucr

. >> you know, obviously i'm not a rocket scientist but when you have lesbian bondage strip club associatedame it's never a good thing for anybody unless you're employed at the strip club. you know, the only difference between democratic officials at a strip club and republican officials at a strip club is democratic officials say hi to each other. i think the problem is hypocrisy. it's purely hypocrisy. republicans go out there and talk about fiscal responsibility and they talk about family values and they have a party leader and party officials who go to a strip club who are involved in this process that say that their private actions or their actions with donors' money doesn't match what their message is. that's the problem. >> in addition to this problem, tell our viewers what american crossroads. >> is american crossroads is an organization that is being formed by republican party stalwarts like karl rove, joanne davidson, former co-chair of the rnc, ed gillespie among others, essentially with the goal of raising money to support candidates going into the next election. >> it's a shado

he's talking about the latest gaffe on steele's watch, rnc money spent at a west hollywood bondage themed strip club, voyeurs, called itself an art club. there have been a number of other missteps since steele became chairman. let's talk "raw politics" with cnn contributor ed rollins and former bush speechwriter, david frum. should michael steele step down? >> i think for the good of the party, he should step aside. he can't be effective in the very important six months we have left. his job is to raise money. >> has he become too much of an distraction? >> he's absolutely a distraction. we have spent the last two weeks discussing things that shouldn't be relevant to the american public. what should be relevant is the president signing not a very good treaty with the russians and the health care debate needs to go on, and we're talking about sex clubs. that goes against our base. i think any donor today, who thinks about giving money to the rnc will think about jets and wasted money spent well on a candidate. >> david, do you agree he should step down? >> i do not agree. you led the story with the p

angry about the behavior stemming from an rnc political consultant's visit to a lesbian bondage-themed strip club. then suggesting some of the criticism aimed his way is over his skin color. >> we've got a lot of questions on my blog for you. one came in from myron. do you feel as an african-american you have a slimmer margin for error than another chairman would? >> the honest answer is yes. >> why is that? >> it just is. it's the -- barack obama has a slimmer margin. a lot of folks do. it means a different role for, you know, for me to play and others to play. and that's just the reality of it. but you take that as part of the nature of it. it's not -- it's more because you're not someone that they know. i'm not a washington insider, even though i grew up here in d.c. my view on politics is much more grassroots oriented. it's not old boy network or oriented. so i tend to come at it a little bit stronger, a little bit more street wise, if you will. >> harkening back to the club escapades and the billing and repaying of that billing, mr. robert gibbs, the white house press secretary, reacted thus

wake of one dismissal and two resignations after revelations about a wild spending at a bondage themed strip clubollywood. it prompted calls for rnc chairman michael steele to step down with over six months until the mid-term elections. but it may not be over for steele. chris cillizza is here to tell us how steele may be able to hold up under the heat and pressure and keep his job. chris is the author of "the fix" on washington post.com he joins us from the nation's capital. chris, good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> you bet. give us the comeback plan here. >> sure. >> what do you think michael steele has to do? >> let me give you a couple points. the first one, any time i can quote al davis the owner of the oakland raiders i try to. his famous credo, just win, baby. that is what michael steele needs to do. in some ways, ed, i think michael steele is in this job still because of virginia and new jersey governor races and the massachusetts special election. three big wins for republicans in the last year. you've got two house special elections coming up, one in pennsylvania, one in hawai

. >> they bondage themed strip club.n, come on. >> i have to tell you, erika -- i want to get back to the whole issue, erika, and chip, and on the screen, are your views closer to tea party members or congress, 47 to 26 and folks don't like what is happening in washington, chip. >> it is all about spending, and about huge government programs and all about trillions of dollars of debt and like i said, obama-care, handouts an bailouts and we cannot afford this as a country and the more we continue to do this, we are not mortgaging our children and grandchildren, we are moving to our grandchildren's children to pay off the debt and people are sick of it and the tea party is a movement bond by energy and passion on fiscal responsibilities i think what we'll see is republicans, and that is what we have been talking to will support republican candidates in november because they know that is the way to get to fiscal responsibility. bill: the same group of independent, erika,ing i give you the last crack, a big group of independ

because he says, let's say you're a political consultant, sitting in your west hollywood bondage themed strip clubnors picking up the tab. it's a terrific lead into it. but, of course, the real problem is, we are in a country where the citizens don't want to make any kind of sack figsacrifices. >> that is for sure. >> they don't want to pay taxes. they don't want to send their children into the military. it's across the board. it's a cultural problem that goes way beyond taxes. >> i totally agree with you. i think it may be a message problem as republicans look to break through and have a positive message that actually sticks with the nation. sam stein, is that the challenge? >> national service, we need. >> is it a message problem? maybe. i don't know, though. it's very difficult to ascertain what exactly is the platform of either party. obviously, the health care bill was projected to save money over the long term. democrats never really pushed that as the primary read to sell the bill. the problem with the debt and deficit is recessionary problem, we're not getting tax returns from people who a