Priebus: The Anti-Steele

Republicans, meet your new Chairman. Reince Priebus, the 38-year-old former chairman of the Wisconsin Republicans, defeated Michael Steele Friday for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. The chairmanship caps a steady climb up the Republican hierarchy for Priebus, starting when he worked as an attorney defending corporations from lawsuits and volunteering for the party in his free time to when he became state chairman in 2007—and including a stint as an aide to Michael Steele. Prieubus is in some ways the anti-Steele. While Steele got in trouble for calling himself the leader of the Republican Party, Priebus puts it this way: “I am the chairman of the RNC and I serve 168 members of that committee from every state and the territories and Washington, D.C.” He’ll have his work cut out for him: The RNC is in debt and has been losing donors frustrated with Steele’s management. He’ll also have to navigate between establishment Republican Party and the Tea Party and handle the redistricting after the 2010 census.