One of the biggest dangers for the Republican Party right now is that it becomes a rump, a regional party. So, it is hugely encouraging that the newly elected head of the Republican National Committee, the titular leader of the party, is from the Democratic voting, mid-Atlantic state of Maryland.
The Republicans will have to change if they want to win nationally again. The voting coalition that they use to rely on has both fractured and lost demographic weight. Michael Steele (pictured), the new RNC head, seems to have grasped this better than most in the party. When he ran for the Senate from Maryland in 2006, he shaped an effective message and actively reached out to non-traditional Republican voters. He was rewarded—in a heavily Democratic year—with a higher share of the vote than Bush
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