(Thumbnail image: Talking Points Memo)

“I’ve had enough of it.  If you don’t want me in the job, fire me.  But until then, shut up.  Get with the program or get out of the way." (Michael Steele, ABC News)

Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele is busy responding to critics who say his erratic behavior is dragging the party down.  They cite his lack of fundraising success, negative comments about the prospects for a GOP comeback in 2010, and secretly writing a book critical of Republicans.

We’ve got a look at the Steele coverage with perspectives from ABC News, Fox News, Hotline On Call, MSNBC, and CNN.

On CNN’s State of the Union, political correspondents Jessica Yellin and Anne Kornblut say even if voters don’t know Steele’s name, the controversy surrounding him still makes a difference.

YELLIN: “What does matter is the job.  Michael Steele has a job to do, which is to raise money and to organize his party, and the establishment Republicans are angry that he’s not doing those two fundamental things.  They’re down on their fundraising, and they don’t feel involved, and they don’t feel cohesive and that can translate at the polls to a lack of voter enthusiasm, a lack of coordination and that does matter.”

KORNBLUT: “And to the extent that this is yet another distraction in a Republican party that looks fractured.  Even if people have never heard of Michael Steele, people who aren’t political junkies don’t know who he is.  This is just another example of what appears to be infighting in a party that doesn’t have a clear leader.”

On ABC’s This Week, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says Democrats owe Michael Steele a big “thank you.”

“Every time they’re in real, real trouble, the Republican party comes to their aid.  Michael Steele is a good example.  This week was basically designed for the Republicans with the Democratic resignations and it looked like Democrats in disarray.  Michael Steele comes in and talk about disarray, he is going rogue.”

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace confronts Steele over the apparent hypocrisy in his call for Senate Democrat Harry Reid to resign over a past racial comment.

“One of the reasons you have talking about racial slurs is perhaps you made one of your own this week.  Let’s put up what you said on "Hannity" this week.  ‘It’s one of the best political documents that’s been written in the last 25 years.  Honest Injun on that.’”

National Journal’s blog – Hotline On Call—reports that on a conference call this week, tempers flared when a top Republican staffer on Capitol Hill called Steele a “fool.”

“In an effort to soothe feelings, a senior House aide interrupted and said he sympathized with RNC aides. But, he added: ‘You're putting our bosses in tremendously difficult situations.’...After an awkward silence, another aide spoke up: ‘You really need to have him be quiet.’ The call ended shortly thereafter.”

But not all conservatives have harsh words for the GOP leader.  Former Republican Congressman and MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough says Steele’s prediction that conservatives won’t recapture the House in 2010 is honest—and helpful.

“It’s a party that doesn’t know which direction to go in.  I really like what he’s saying, and I think it will be good for the party.  It’s going to be great for the party to be blunt.  People sat back, said nothing, enabled President George W. Bush for eight years and they lost all of Washington.  Here’s a guy that’s telling the truth and maybe people will listen to him.”

So do you think Steele is the right man for the GOP’s top job—or is he too far out in right field?  

Writer: Chance Seales  

Producer: Nathan Giannini