Around the Obama inauguration, the conservative talker declared of the new president: “I hope he fails.” In a CNN interview, Mr. Steele took issue with the host’s view that Limbaugh is de facto head of the Republican Party – and then called Limbaugh an entertainer whose show is “incendiary” and “ugly.” Thus was launched the Steele-Limbaugh feud. Steele eventually backed down, telling Politico: "I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."
The feud sparked criticism from Republicans that Steele wasn’t doing his job. “Steele won the party’s chairmanship five weeks ago,” Republican strategist Scott Reed told Reuters. “He fired the entire staff. Who’s running the place? Who’s raising the money, recruiting the candidates, designing the voter identification programs and helping work with the congressional wing to design a message? Who’s doing all this work? No one.”