Whose side is Steele on?

OPINION:

The announcement that Michael S. Steele will seek re-election as chairman of the Republican Party surely serves to instill hope in those on the opposite side of the aisle (“Defiant Steele announces bid for second term at the helm of RNC,” Page 1, Dec. 14).

Mr. Steele has demonstrated himself ill-suited to raising badly needed funds. I had hoped that Mr. Steele was a frank, no-nonsense leader until in the early days of his tenure, he properly wrote off conservative icon Rush Limbaugh as “an entertainer” and someone whose material is “incendiary” and “ugly.” Having been taken to the woodshed for insulting Mr. Limbaugh, Mr. Steele apologized before the ink was dry on his original statement. If he should win re-election or facilitate the exposure of a rift in the GOP, it could be a victory for the Democrats.

OREN M. SPIEGLER

Upper St. Clair, Pa.