Remington Steele.

From Mike with Love...

Words.

"Poetic justice is a beautiful thing. Republican Party grandees were all set to use Michael Steele in the most cynical way. Now it's becoming clear that Steele has been using the users all along.

Republicans must have thought that electing Steele as their national chairman was a brilliant stroke. The 2008 presidential election had been a debacle for them. The Democratic Party was on top of the world, with the first African American president taking office amid a national outpouring of goodwill. Among the mediocre field of contenders for the Republican National Committee job -- at that point, after all, who would want it? -- there was one intriguing option. Why not begin the process of rebranding and renewal by installing the first African American party chairman?

Steele was smooth and charismatic. He was effective on television, in a wall-of-noise sort of way, and he clearly loved the limelight. African Americans, Latinos and Asians had rejected the party in historic numbers, and smart Republican strategists understood the long-term implications of allowing the GOP to be pigeonholed as almost exclusively white and Southern. With Steele, the face the party presented to an increasingly diverse nation would be strikingly different. It would also be fraudulent, but hey, this is politics.

By now, however, it's clear that Steele had an agenda of his own.

...In one of a series of television interviews to promote the book, Steele opined that the party had no chance of regaining control of the House in this year's midterm elections. This note of pessimism -- probably true, but not likely to motivate GOP activists and donors -- upset Republicans on Capitol Hill. The Washington Post reported that during a conference call, an unidentified "top congressional aide" told members of Steele's staff: "You really just have to get him to stop. It's too much."

But Chairman Mike never stops. His response: "Fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way.""

THE WASHINGTON POST: With new book, Michael Steele turns the tables -- again -- on GOP