The question then becomes, who to replace him with. I think the answer is obvious.
I can think of a few negatives, of course. The most obvious one is, she is unlikely to gain the approval of the Inside-The Beltway crowd that actually control the GOP. There is also the potential that she would be such a lightning rod she might actually increase Democratic voter turnout. Finally, if she wishes to run for President in 2012, it might hinder her prospects were she to take such a position this relatively close to that next election.
But, on the plus side, the most obvious response to problem number one is if enough people, especially Tea party folks, demand she be appointed as Steel's replacement, we could make it awful difficult for the party apparatchiks to refuse to accede.
For every one Democrat that comes out in force, the Republicans should at least be able to go them half a one better, and probably more than that. But I would take a 3-2 advantage in increased turnout any time, especially since the GOP currently already enjoys an advantage. It would still be a rout in favor of the Republicans. It might even be a massacre.
As for the final point, there's always 2016, which might be better for her anyway. I am not one of these who assumes Obama is sure to go down to defeat in his re-election bid. That assumes a lot of facts that aren't in evidence, nor could they be. A lot can change in a year and a half. Those who are willing to bet the farm that Obama is sure to suffer the fate of Jimmy Carter in 1980 tend to forget the outcome of the 1994 mid-term elections that swept the Democrats out of power in both houses of Congress, and how that led, just two years later, to Bill Clinton easily winning re-election in 1996. One is well-advised to recall that, during those '94 mid-terms, Clinton was probably more unpopular than Obama is now. Obama's approval ratings are still hovering well into the forty percent range. Clinton would have killed for that high a poll rating in '94. Yet, by the time the '96 election rolled around, nobody seriously gave Bob Dole any chance of pulling out what would have been a shocking upset victory.
There are times for cheerleading, and then there are times for serious contemplation and practical considerations.
Sarah Palin brings both qualities as a potential Chairwoman of the RNC. It would be an appointment that would rock the world and I believe it would usher in the worse defeat in the history of the Democratic Party.
I should conclude by pointing out the fact that, although you never heard it trumpeted in the MSM, Sarah Palin was just last month cleared of all ethics charges filed against her. Think of how much fun it would be when Democrats brought up all those bogus complaints, for Brian Williams, for just one example, to have to explain that, "well, she was actually cleared of those charges as of around June 8th of this year-I just forgot to mention it. Must have been the oil spill."
Of course, the news media was out in force in reporting the charges, and investigating them, and probably in some cases filing them. But when it came to reporting that she was cleared, of every single one of them, they suddenly had other things to do.
There couldn't be a better example of poetic justice than Sarah Palin being named as the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
