martha: we've been telling you this morning that there will be a challenger toll michael steele, the head of the rnc, and it is michigan republican saul anuzis. chris wallace, good morning to you. >> reporter: morning, martha. martha: what's your reaction? >> reporter: i'm not surprised. dissatisfaction within the republican party at the performance of michael steele, there was a feeling that he wasn't running a tight ship at the rnc and that he had turned off a lot of big donors. one of the reasons you saw karl rove and ed gillespie step in and help form this american cross roads organization is a lot of big donors weren't confident that if they gave money to the rnc, it was going to be spent prop properly. some of the state chairmen are concerned if michael steele has another two years in the office that these outside groups might become a kind of way around

michael steele made that case to the committee. i ran against him on a nuts and bolts strategy and he ended up winning. this time around we've elected a majority in the house, a speaker of the house that will have a voice. governors and senators across our country that represent a large number of our demography. now we have to return to a nuts and bolts approach. that's the alternative that i'm going to offer. >> would you say over his term michael steele has -- how does it net out? has he helped or hurt the party? >> well, i think he's been probably a net help overall, but clearly, look, he's got a number of successes but he's obviously had some pretty big bumps in the road as well. we have a responsibility as a board of directors for the national committee, so to speak to take a look at what we're going to need for the next two years. people are coming to the consensus that we need change, and we'll come to a different type of direction, a different type of focus and get people to get the trains to run on time and get out the vot

>> from day one there's been a group of people who didn't think michael steele should be chairman of he rnc. some are still members of the rnc and some are off the committee. i think the facts speak for themselves. i think with michael's election victories and starting in last year and then this year, he has a very -- an excellent chance of being re-elected. >> is there a move to dump him if he tries again? >> yes, there is. now, how coordinated that is, you can leave it up a little bit. most people i talked to, there are 168 members of the rnc. these are the committee people who vote. i think michael steele is between 50 and 60 solid votes. he needs a simple majority to win. i don't know that he's going to get there. he may and he starts out ahead of anyone else. i think there is a desire among the professional political class, consultants, strategists, people advising 2012 presidential -- >> where is karl rove? >> let me say this. i haven't talked to karl rove. i think he's behind steele. >> isn't he trying to create a separate party? isn't he trying to create a network of people he

>> there's -- from day one, there has always been a group of people who didn't think michael steele shouldof the rnc and some of them are still members of the rnc, some off the committee. but i think the facts speak for themselves. i think with michael's election victories and starting last year and then this year, i think he has a very -- an excellent chance of being re-elected. >> what are you reporting on this? what can you tell me -- an actual move to dump him if he tries again? >> yes, there is. now, how coordinated that is, chris, you can leave that up a little bit. i would say most people i talked to, 168 members of the rnc, the people that vote. steele was between 50 and 60 solid votes, needs 85, a simple majority to win. i don't know that he is going to get there. he may and he starts out ahead of anyone else. i think there is a desire among kind of the professional political class, consultants, strategists, people devising 2012. >> where is karl rove? >> i haven't talked to karl rove, i don't think he is behind michael steele. i don't know for a fact. chris, let me -- >> isn't ro

steele, who? it is. >> a good question, michael.andidates, one is maria seno who is an operation's genius, probably one of the best people that we know to turn campaigns around and get funding. she has a wide experience in grassroots' organization. and nick aires who worked at the rga under haley barbour. took a lot of slack from the are nc because the rnc did not perform at the top, top levels i think that haley barbour probably knows more about how successful rnc can work because he was probably the best chairman that the party's had in the last 40 years. and so he knows what he's talking about. so either nick aires or maria seno a lot ob{ the two candidates that people here in washington would like. >> another governor, governor mcdonell of virginia on msnbc earlier today. >> yeah. >> michael steele is a good person. he helped me tremendously last year when i ran for governor but i could tell you many of us have great concern about the fiscal state of the rnc, about the lack of effort and effectiveness at the grassroots' ground g

it will allow this candidates to become the voice and face of republicans and will challenge michael steeled that is a slap at steele, who generated continues various repeatedly, as his tenure as republican party chairman sometimes drawing attention that has been detrimental, it has been said, of the republican party. so we'll continue to follow this challenge. martha: lots of talk about the controversial bush era tax cuts but it is getting closer, folks and they are set to expire in less than two short months from now and this as president obama's deficit commission is considering some major changes that were just announced yesterday and the tax system -- could hitting the wealthy in the wallet mean collateral damage to the middle class? this is a central part of the issues of the discussion, let's bring in the senior advisor to senator hillary clinton, she's also the former communications director for the democratic national committee. and ron was a communication director to the former speaker of the house, dennis hastert and former senior advisor to trent lot. i guess we know a lot about

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big wins this week in san diego, but they're also looking toward 2012 and possible ousting of michael steele jonathan martin and john feehery. jonathan martin, you reported for politico something haleigh barbour said -- some might say steele deserves better than that given the recent success of the gop. >> he has his defenders and a core of support on the rnc and there's no doubt this was a great year for republicans. i think haleigx =ui and critics are saying in some ways despite michael steele just because of the financial -- of the rnc, they did not raise a whole lot of money compared to more recent years and they did not fund the voters because of that lack of money in some key states. so the concern among votes like barbour is they left some races on the table this year because of the lack of funds at the rnc and looking towards 2012, there is a deep concern of not wanting to make the same mistakes financially when next time around, they're going to need more cash. >> john feehery, you can't beat somebody with nobody. >> there's a couple of candidates, one is an operations genius. prob

michael steele is at the bottom of my list.p. >> would you like to see republicans in congress work against the president and sort of set him up for 2012? or do you think the people want to see people working together? >> joe biden called me when the election was over. the president made 12 visits in ohio to beat me. biden basically lived there and called me up to congratulate me. i said, look, joe, let's get beyond the election stuff let me tell you, you cannot raise taxes on dividends and cannot raise taxes on the capital gains and raise taxes on anybody because you're going to hurt the economy. i'm hopeful they are going to work that out. what i would like to have from congress and the white house is to have them set our people free so we can design our job training programs the way that worked for us and medicaid programs. you have to cut the strings and let each state fashion their own solution to the difficult problems and we have to begin to push aggressively for a national recovery. i hope we're going to get motion on m

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if your friend michael steele decided not to run, would you go for the chair? >> the chairman has to decide what he will do. i will say with humility that if the opportunity were there to help my party, i would help the party. part of that is to raise a significant amount of money. part of it is to interact with the senate for committees and the house committee. part of it is to understand the roles and coordination and that they are out there. i could do all those things. but that is a hypothetical. the chairman has to decide what he is going to do. i have always been willing to serve my party. i am not out there actively campaigning for anything right now. >> said last summer word leaked out that you plan to go to the rnc summer meeting in kansas city with the purpose of signaling your intention of challenging michael steele. there was a backlash among rnc members and you did not go to kansas city. were you thinking of running then and challenging him? >> i was planning on going to that meeting, not for the purposes of challenging. my intent is never been to

>>neil: say it ain't so, republican party chairman michael steele is saying that on the news that formerhigan republican bigwig want dozen challenge steele for his job and a growing number of tea party people are encouraging this. michael steele is not available to us but here is my guest. do you think that michael steele is doing the job? >>guest: well, it is not a function of doing the job. the circumstances have changed. in 2010 when we hired michael steele the party came out of the worst election psyche -- cycles and we needed a spokesman for the party, a face and voice of the party. and he made the case. i ran against him at the time and one of the strongest things he did was said i am recognizable and i can represent the party instantly. that was a reason people bought into it. this time we have speaker of the house, more governors, senators, not to mention presidential candidates. so we will have plenty of people representing us in a public manner and we have to get back to the fundamentals, someone would will make sure the trains run on time, raise the money and put out the boast

>> i would be ecstatic of two more years of michael steele. it would give us all a lot more entertainment. >> a lot of people who are being touted as possible replacements, none of them household names. so, we'll continue to watch this story very closely. gentlemen, thank you. "the wall street journal" steve moore and jeff johnson and we have more with our company coming up later on. >>> cheney, c oondi. check out his exchange this morning with matt lauer on "today" show. >> looking back now, utchadviser was the most insightful and gave you the best advice and why? >> pretty unfair question. like saying which one of your children do you love the most? >> well, you know. >> i had a lot of good advice from a lot of good people. hank paulson gave me very good advice during the financial crisis. condi rice gave me great advice for eight years. colin powell, dick cheney's advice was consistent and strong. >> pick one. pick one! >> he can say sit there and pick one and i'm the guy that gets to pick and i'm not picking one. >> you'll hear more from p

i don't know if michael steele was supposed to win 80 seats or 90 seats or a hundred seats.what it would have taken to make them happy but obviously they're unhappy with michael steele. they've got all kinds of candidates. >> i'm sorry you were good to that but go to the republican. why knock a guy who has a winning record like babe ruth? from the time that he got in there, won new jersey, virginia, scott brownin massachusetts. i almost took the sen estimate what do you want, the governor's chair, six of them. >> here's the bottom line for the chairman's race. you can't beat somebody with nobody and every king's court -- >> why should you. >> every king's court's got barons and dukes who think that they've got a better job and love to talk about it but until somebody steps forward and says i am going to challenge michael steele. >> i love that the way that republicans talk. barons and dukes, they're more familiar with that setting. anyway, we talk you know democratic politics. >> oh, yeah. >> the republican politics. >> lower "r." thank you todd harris and steve mcmahon. >>>

. >> we just heard that you have said that if michael steel decides to run, you will not be a candidate. >> republicans don't have to beat up on republicans. secondly, he campaigned and supported me. i have been very, very candid with the chairman. there's been challenges with major donors. on the other hand, i don't think so these gotten enough credit to bring the tea party into the republican coalition. i don't think it's productive from my perspective. >> let me introduce you to steve from the white house correspondent. gentlemen, thanks. steve, you want to start? >> steve, good to see you. >> by the way, i work with both these guys. i'm glad to see you're still working. i'm glad to see you're still out there. >> we appreciate that. >> senator, the republican national committee ends this cycle in debt. the only one in the major party committees that spent more than it raised, and it didn't raise much. groups like yours and the groups like karl rove, my question is, why even have the republican national committee anymore? >> two observations, clearly, there's a place and will be a pla

republican national committee's political director has resigned with a scathing indictment of chairman michael steele. after working with him for two years, gentry collins wrote in a five-page letter that steele spent too much, raised too little, and failed to capitalize on republican opportunities in the midterm elections. the letter addressed to the chairman and executive committee reads, "in the previous two non-presidential cycles, the rnc carried over 4.8 million and 3.1 million respectively in cash reserves into the presidential cycles. we enter the 2012 cycle with 100% of the rnc's $15 million in lines of credit tapped out and unpaid bills lied to add millions to the debt." steele, who's not decided now whether or not to run for a second term, didn't respond directly to the letter. in a statement from the rnc defending practices saying the committee contributed to "the most successful elections for the republican party in modern times." michael steele just can't win, coming off big wins in the midterm elections. >>> the house ethics committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to consider punishmen

. >> for michael steele, the first african-american chairman of the republican party is now being runcrowd that doesn't think he did a sufficiently good job. i know if michael steele was supposed to win 80 seats or 90 seats or 100 seats, what it would have taken to make them happy, but they're unhappy with michael steele. >> you were good on that, but republican. why knock a guy who's got a winning record like babe ruth? from the time he got in there, he won new jersey, virginia, then took the house of representatives with a 60 something victory. >> here's the bottom line. for the chairman's race. you can't beat somebody with nobody. every king's court got barons and dukes who think they do a better job, but until somebody steps forward and -- >> i love the way republicans talk. they say, barons and duke. we talk democratic politics. lower r. thank you. i love those mid evil references. up next, today is veterans day and the pentagon has concluded there would be little rest in the report that's gotten leaked. don't think there would be a big problem with letting gays serve in the mili

i think michael steele made that case to the committee. i ran against him on a nuts and bolts strategy, and he ended up winning. this time around, i think we've elected a majority in the house. we're clearly going to have a speaker of the house that represents our voice, senate and house that's representing our voice. >> michael steele, how you does it net out, has he -- how does it net out, has he helped our hurt the party? >> he's been a net help overall. clearly he's got a number of successes but has it big bumps in the road, as well. >> don't miss "the last word" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. on nbc. the place for politics. >>> for the first time since the vietnam war a living soldier has received the nation's highest military award. army staff sergeant salvagetor giunta was presented with the medal of honor yesterday. more on his inspiring story. >> reporter: even with the medal of honorround his neck, army staff sergeant salvatore giunta insists he didn't win the award alone. >> i know a lot of people greater than me. i'm mediocre at best

will michael steele survive at the republican national committee? traveling abroad, the president encounters skepticism on trade, currency and america's leadership role in the world. >> instead of hitting a home run, sometimes we're going to hit singles but they're really important singles. gwen: while at home, a former president tries to redefine his legacy. >> was there ever any consideration given to apologizing to the american people? >> apologizing would basically say the decision was the wrong decision, and i don't believe it was the wrong decision. gwen: making and writing history. we look at the week with jackie calmes of "the new york times," naftali bendavid of "the wall street journal," toll gjelten of n.p.r. and martha raddatz of abc news. >> live from our nation's capital this is "washington week" with gwen ifill, produced in association with national journal. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> i'm an engineer. my kids say i speak a different language but i love math and math and science develop new ideas. we u

i would not count michael steele out. >> republicans are more cold blooded.willing to throw their leaders over the side. >> martin, as a friend, i would like to take that as a compliment. >> it is a compliment. >> speaking about whether or not republicans are cold blooded looking at future presidential contenders. how do you figure sarah palin? she was hinting broadly in a speech. i'm not talking about mine. she is on the cover of "usa today" today. her tlc series is debuting. she is getting a lot of attention. >> she has improved her position in the course of the last two years. if she gets into the race she complicates everyone's plans particularly in iowa. it is hard for me to see how anyone could beat sarah palin in iowa. i don't know about beyond that. there are concerns about her as a national candidate. >> i went to a roast of ann richards and charlie riffles said he knew god was a democrat because he gave her the only two opponents she could beat. >> be careful what you wish for. one other point, she is going to be starting her book tour in iowa and s

there are reports of a republican movement eager to remove michael steele from the republican nationaltee post. we are told officials close to the speaker boehner and the senate minority leader would prefer a new chairman but they have no clear alternate. both stories part of wednesday's with juan. juan williams is not in new york. it is a mystery of day, why aren't you in new york? >> sties travel and stress take you out of the big city. >>shepard: i was afraid we fired you, too, or something like that. >> don't start that. >>shepard: and now, nancy pelosi, we did some fact checking and they accomplished a lot. whether you like what they accomplished is another matter but they accomplished a lot. >> her point is she thinks this is about unemployment rates, 9.6 being prohibitive. we visited before the expletionz she says if you are an opposition party and you cannot do smith about the high unemployment rate you should get out of the game. she is right to that extent but the alternate point view is, she might be tone deaf if she thinks ideology has nothing to do with this but that refle

one other story is the drama of rnc chair michael steele. will he remain as rnc chair after his political director resigns, citing mismanagement at the republican national committee. yesterday governor tim pawlenty cited that resignation as well as the report that the director sent raised some concerns. take a listen. >> i haven't taken a position on that. but there's a letter i think somebody wrote that was executive director or something, outlines a series of concerns about the rn krfrnlc. it concerns me a great deal in terms of the concerns raised in that letter. think there will be a healthy discussion over the next few months about the rnc and the future direction of it. >> reporter: now, haley barber was more definitive telling politico there will be a new rnc chair next year. so we'll wait and see. certainly not a ringing endorsement for michael steele. >> nbc deputy political director mark murray in lovely san diego. enjoy this tough assignment out there, buddy. >>> it's interesting. they have to fix the rnc problem. the rga was able

michael steele.this for the joutd look section of the "washington post." sometimes i have very few people to choose from. sometimes the week gives me a lot to choose from. but michael steele look looked to be rebuked in a four-page letter by a political director who resigns to have a meeting in san diego. which haley barbour says you shouldn't be the chairman anymore. a very tough week for michael steele encapsulating a very tough two years for michael steele at the top of the republican national committee. so he wins this week's award. >> he may win the award. but i would also put up the possibility of someone not just rebuked, but condemned, charlie rangel. stay with me here for just a minute. before we go i want to give you a taste of what our friends at the "today show" pulled off this morning. a music video shot on a steady cam in one continuous take with all the staff paying homage to a viral video. they didn't have meredith, matt and al, lester and a surprise guest. take a look. ♪ i got a feel

right now, it looks very untenable for michael steele to say he wants to run when comments like this come out them everything is leading up to 2012. never too early to look ahead. >> you are already saying candidacy blossom for candidacies three days after the elections in nebraska and montana. >> good to see you. >> time for traffic and weather every 10 minutes. let's return to chief meteorologist to doug hill. >>> big storms last night and big winds are coming. one of the first things i will do this morning is issued the comb-over advisory. this is the leading edge of this new weather system that came through last night. this is the history that character between 1:30 in the morning and 12:30. there are a lot of trees down. you don't associate these patterns with the middle of november but it is there and gone. behind the front, a gorgeous sunrise. rainfall was pretty impressive, leesburg almost one 3/4 inches of rain. the wins will be the story today. yesterday was the re and at last i was a weather and today it will be strong winds. when the buzzer goes into effect at 9:00 a.m. a

what is michael steele doing wrong? >> well, i think that's not necessarily the argument you have to make. i think there will be two or three other members running. i don't think he has the majority vote ls. i think there's a consensus growing for change. i think you'll find a group of people making the case as to why and what they bring to the table for the 2012 elections. >> does he deserve credit for the midterms and the results for the republicans? >> yeah, i think he was part of the team that helped win. that's great. it's a very different environment we're going into and a completely different set of skills that will be necessary. >> what about some of the gaps that he's made including saying the war in afghanistan might not be winnable. there have been accusations of millions misspent. and we know about the bondage theme party that took place in california. he was not in attendance, he was the chairman, but it happened on his watch. what about the list of things like that? >> yeah, those are all things out there.

is it a foregone conclusion that michael steele is gone? >> not a foregone conclusion. steele with anybody else who happened to hold party office is going to claim his share of credit, deserved or not for the republican victories. steele is in trouble. i don't think it's a fore gone conclusion that he's gone. but the challenges stem from serious critiques. he would be well advised to take them seriously. he's in it to win. he's a serious player. i would be surprised if his last name goes in the house. >> that's a great advantage for steele, isn't it? if you have a lot of people throwing their names in the hat, they're going to split the vote, and steele is, you know, right now the reigning chair, so that gives him the advantage, doesn't it? >> well, if it gives him the advantage if, and this is a big if, if steele has run the rnc in the way that most would. frankly, i don't think we can assume that. it remains to be seen. >> then on the mccains. that looks like a direct shot at her husband, doesn't it? >> you know, it does. but mccain family members back stabbing each ot

. >> i want to move ahead and talk about michael steele. you have new reporting about the republicans looking for the replacement of that of michael steele at the rnc. what do you know? >> there's a large group of republicans in washington, d.c.s and around the country. members of the republican national committee, karl rove, people who have been in charge of politics are trying to find a consensus candidate to get him out of running for a second term. everybody sort of has their favorites. there's not likely to be a consensus choice. everybody who is a possible candidate think they should be the consensus choice. we have seen michigan come out and say they think they should run. former ambassador under george w. bush will come out and announce. this week, the republican's governor's association is meeting in san diego. it's a kick-off of the rnc chairman's race. a couple candidates will be announced there. already, people who say they want to support michael steele are finding it difficult to corral the votes. people who oppose him think t

. >> greta: let me go to michael steele many in the republican party are not anxious to have him run again. what has he done well? where has he failed? if has failed? >> michael steele has done very well in dramatically expanding republican outreach to minority communities. 37% of the members of congress who are latino are republican. the highest number in history. we have two african-american members of congress. and made real breakthroughs in other areas. we elected an all latino state ticket in new mexico we elected an indian-american with nikki haley in south carolina as governor. i was quite a remarkable year. you wouldn't have said two years ago, when the first african-american president as a democrat was elected that he would set the stage for the biggest increase in republican minority representation in history. in the state of texas, four latino candidates and two african-american candidates won seats as republican. all across the country, michael did a good job there, -- >> greta: why are some unhappy with him? >> to be candid, he's a good friend of mine. in the area of rai

he's throwing his support behind a competitor of michael steele.bour says there should be a new rnc chairman. tim pallenty is concerned about the fund-raising. what do you think should happen at the top? >> i think the republican governor's association showed we know how to run an organization having raised and spent $102 million and winning 23 races and we'd like to see that kind of efe effectiveness at the national committee. michael steele is a good person and helped me tremendously last year when i ran for governor but many of us have great concern about the fiscal state of the rnc and about the lack of effort and effectiveness at the grassroots ground game. we lost a couple elections that might have made a difference. i think there will be a discussion and i'll talk to my three votes in virginia and get an assessment from them but i think there is broad concern about what we can do to make our party more effective. >> i know governors everywhere, democrats and republican have a tough road ahead and a lot of budget problems and other difficulti

i think michael steele has done a great job in recruiting information run as republican candidates forblicans serving in congress. you saw nikki haley, susanna martinez. michael has a lot of grassroots support. if the establishment decides to take him on be careful i'm sure he has some grassroot support out there that will back him up. >> i was thinking about all the republican governors that year -- bill, all those governors who are with you in san diego right now. two years ago, exactly two years ago the national governors association for the republicans was held in miami. i went down there to interview the then governor of alaska, sarah palin. think about this. if she were still governor of alaska, she quit in the mid. her term she would be with you right now. do you think as a sitting governor of alaska she would have a better chance to get the republican presidential nomination, or was ait a wise decision for theory step down. what is better to propel her to become president? >> gosh, i don't know. i think you probably will have to say she's doing pretty well when i see about a th

republican national committee chair michael steele has spent much of his time on damage control.ten generating criticism from within his own party amid a string of political gaffes. now he has his first official challenger. molly henneberg with the news live in d.c. tonight. molly? >> hi, jon. the former chairman of the michigan republican party came in third to steele in the party elections in 2009. and now he says the republican national committee needs to shift. >> i think we need to change how we concentrate on raising money and getting a good ground game together, spend maybe less time, you know, giving speeches and being on television. and, you know, kind of have a different direction. >> michael steele, the current rnc chairman who did an interview with fox before the election has bristled at the suggestion that he has not been a strong fundraiser. >> do you know how much we have raised in the rnc in the last 18 months? $175 million. we have raised 175, a lot of zeros after it. and, you know why and how? those are dollars that are raised in small increments. $47 is our ave

when do you stand on whether michael steel should be replaced by someone else as republican national chairman? >> well, i haven't said anything on that. michael steel was very helpful to me a year ago when i was for governor and the rnc did a great job supporting our campaign as well as the republican governors association, immensely helpful pap decision played in a couple of months by the leaders that we elect. two people from each state that will vote on that. honestly, since the election i've been focused on working with new leaders, eric cantor, talking about things we need do to improve state and frel relations and i haven't focused on the party issues. >> one of your other -- well a former governor, sarah palin, was in pennsylvania yesterday, abscess one of the things that she's campaigning against is a local option there. public school there's trying to cut back on fats and junk food for the kids, but then let's play a little bit of her response to one of the young people who was singing "the national anthem." watch? >> that singing, absolutely beautiful. would you like to sin

now you have people calling for michael steele to get out. what is going on inside the republican party right now? >> i think this reflects a long-standing frustration, if you will, among, not just social conservatives, but grassroots conservatives. with the republican national committee especially because traditionally they have an attitude of, well, we're the expert, we're the pros, just shut up and do what we say. a lot of people are saying, no, we're not going to do that. >> michael steele didn't have a plan when he came in and here we are a couple years later and he still doesn't have a plan for the ground game. a number of my republican friends said they were hoping he'd come in and do what governor dean did. how do you rebuild the party from the grassroots, particularly going into the presidential. at the end of the day the rnc and dnc's job is to elect a president. if they're concerned that they don't have that infrastructure and no vision for that infrastructure, not surprising they're going to say maybe we need to change leaders. >>

. >>> the gop made big gains in the midterm elections, but that may not be enough for michael steel to keep his job. some members are recruited a replacement. he's been accused of lavish spending and controversial comments. a decision will be made in january. >>> 45 degrees on this thursday, 4:49. >>> john legend changes his tune. his serious message about education. >> another check on traffic and weather every ten minutes on this thursday. and closer to the weekend. we will be right back. [ female announcer ] joe here likes saving money. that's why joe likes aetna's payment estimator. he gets to compare out-of-pocket health care costs before they come out of his pocket. that's awesome. [ female announcer ] now let's say every joe in america uses it. looks like everyone likes saving money. ah, the potential of putting people first. thanks joe. know more. get better. get a smarter health plan. ♪ aetna.com. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >>> time for a check on traffic and weather every ten minutes. 4:53. >> are looking forward to a nice thursday? >> y

-- did you say michael steele was going to step down? i think he should step down because he is physically irresponsible -- fiscally irresponsible. i do not think he is conservative it. i just want to know -- did you say he is going to still be there or not? guest: he has not said if he was going to step down. at the conference, 80% of the governors elect that were at a private meeting -- i think there were about 26 of them down there said they would hope he would step down. they do not want him to remain as chairman. host: jerry is on our line. caller: thank you for c-span. i am an independent. i recently watched -- i don't understand the republicans at all. i think they never seem to support any type of program that helps the people. they seem to be -- their philosophy seems to be just against everything. they are still angry at obama for getting through health care. they will not help him at all. they are not doing their job. host: tell us a little bit about rick snyder, the governor of your state. what are your thoughts about his ele

we have the party chairs, republican michael steele. democrat tim kaine. good morning to both of you, and, gentlemen, let me start with -- >> good morning. >> -- each of you making the case in one sentence. mr. steele, why should voters put republicans in charge of the congress? >> because i think it's time to move in a different direction. i think that the republican leadership has shown that it is prepared to listen to the people, to act on the concerns and interests that they have in communities across the country and no longer turn a tone deaf ear to things like health care and the environment and education issues, and i think it's an important opportunity for us to transition from the course that we're on right now where we are looking to redistribute wealth by the government and invest that wealth instead in small business owners and families and communities who know better how to move us into prosperity. >> one long sentence but thank you. democratic rebuttal? >> well, george, look, the democrats have been doing the heavy lifting at the toughest time

michael steele is the chairman of the republican party. steele's record speaks for itself. he has his way of doing things, i have mine. i will not strive to be the voice or face of the party. i will be happy to discuss politics but i won't be competing with valuable airtime from the men and women on our ticket. is michael steele going to stay on as chairman of the republican party? >> i think there will be a good debate about this and i think there will be a challenge to all of this. two years is the usual term. i served two weeks, you may remember. that's not a usual term. but if you look at the consequences of michael's being chairman, you have to say look what the republicans did. >> win after win after win. >> but also some rocky times. let me just say back to the tea party, whatever the problems, whatever the disagreements, it gave tremendous energy and push to this republican vick terrorism and it's really been a four-barrel carburetor for this engine. >> republicans lost some races but it did help them overall. >> it did, and michae

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