The Republican party showed some realism and common sense this weekend by refusing to adopt a conservative litmus test, a “purity test”, on GOP candidates for office this coming November.
By so doing, they have improved their chances of appealing to the mainstream voters of this country, but it would also help if candidates like Charlie Crist in Florida and John McCain in Arizona accomplish victories in their Senate races over Marco Rubio and J. D. Hayworth, who are appealing to ideological conservatives and Freedom Works/ Tea Party activists.
The Republican party, at least officially, is trying to steer clear of control by or obedience to the above named fringe groups, as alliance with them too directly would be likely to be the death knell for the Republicans as a party that can appeal to some Democrats, independents, and centrists.
However, it is still reality that RNC Chairman Michael Steele remains a burden on the party structure with his loose mouth and confrontational attitude toward the news media. It would be hard to fire him, however, as that would make the party look bad dismissing its African American leader, but he certainly is not likely to attract any minority support to the party because he does not represent more than a miniscule percentage of the African American community.