RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Michael Steele's Empty Threat

RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Michael Steele's Empty Threat

Can an RNC chairman punish a sitting senator for straying from party policy? Not likely, says Jay Cost: "[A]n overwhelming majority of Specter's resources came from non-party sources in 2004, and the same will assuredly hold this cycle.... Party dollars are barely a drop in Specter's bucket. Arlen Specter does not need the Republican Party organizations - not the state party, not the RNC, and not even the NRSC. If anything, they need him. Michael Steele might be 'open to everything,' but the fact of the matter is that he's a paper tiger on this one. If Republicans are sick and tired of this, they need to focus on reshaping the rules that govern the relationship between party and candidates. Right now, they are geared almost exclusively for the benefit of candidates at the expense of the party."