Former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele had a tough time as head of the RNC, and prominent Republicans called for his ouster. He eventually stepped out of the reelection race. But his sometimes ill-considered remarks that made him such a problem for the Republican Party are what will make him an excellent talking head. Today we learned he is in talks with MSNBC to offer politcal analysis for its 2012 election coverage, according to a report by The Hill's Emily Goodin. In January Steele had been in talks with Fox News and CNN, and he became a columnist for The Root, a Slate-affiliated site covering African-American news, this month. But we are hoping this MSNBC thing works out. Steele's punditry style is conversational, confident, and sort of sassy. He says "baby" a lot, in a manner befitting a 1970s person with a mustache. If you take a look at some highlights from Steele's many classic cable moments, it's hard to imagine why CNN and Fox didn't snap him up.

On the lack of black faces at the Republican National Convention: "We could have used a few more brothers in the house."

Would he be open to shutting out Arlen Specter from RNC money because he voted for the stimulus? "I'm always open for anything, baby."

Telling Joe Scarborough to "Spare me" facts about the deficit. It's like he's a natural-born pundit.

Also, we'd like there still be a reason for The Daily Show to break out Puppet Michael Steele now and again. 

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ereeve at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Elspeth Reeve