Since when is a Republican prohibited from being a federalist?

You can argue that perhaps he didn't articulate well, but Michael Steele's comments about abortion are going to get a lot of play today, especially in the second tier media. His position (as I read it) is that he believes the states should decide. This is perfectly in keeping with conservative/Republican principles of small government and states rights. He believes Roe v. Wade is bad law (he doesn't actually say that he wants it overturned but, if you read the interview, he doesn't correct the questioner when he jumps to that conclusion). There are some that are going to cling to the phrase "individual choice" and equate that to pro-choice. But I think we're getting hung up on semantics. It's pretty clear to me that he's talking about states making the laws.

And for those of you that scream, "It's murder, we shouldn't leave that up to the states!" let me point out that murder is a state crime. The only federal murder statutes are ones that tie into location (i.e. kill someone in the District or on Federal property and you're going to Federal prison) or when related to certain other federal crimes (Drug dealing being one of them I believe). So leaving this issue of how much and when to punish people for abortion up to the states is perfectly in keeping with the current law.

Steele also said that he believes homosexuality is a state of being (he equates it to being black) and you can't just flip it on or off.

I like this guy more and more every day.

I wonder if the RNC will fire him or if they actually can foresee the bad PR move of quickly firing their first black chairman when he steps over the line.

Finally, there are some in the party and in the media that are suggesting that the RNC Chair's job is not one of policy but of logistics and he should be toeing the party line on all the issues. To those people I give a firm "PLBBBTT". Since when can somoene not state their own opinions. He never once in that interview said that those opinions were going to be the party platform (they should be) and he wasn't trying to start a national debate (we should). The Republican party has an vast and deep image problem but one of the key pieces of it is that the party is viewed as monolithic. California Republicans are excommunicated from the party if they vote in favor of ANY tax increase. National Republicans vote rank and file on stimulus packages. People need to realize that it's okay to have a continuum of opinions. In fact, it's desirable. Our country is not a binary thing. Either Republican or Democrat. We are all the shades of gray (purple?) in between.