Late Wednesday night, I emailed RNC spokesman Alex Conant to see if Chairman Michael Steele would be willing to comment on Attorney General Eric Holder's remark that America is a "nation of cowards" on matters of race. Conant informed me Thursday that Chairman Steele was "traveling" and thus unable to comment. So I asked Conant if he could comment on Holder's remarks. I didn't get a response to that question on Thursday, nor to a followup email I sent last night. Maybe Steele really is too busy to comment. But compare and contrast, as they say. The DNC immediately jumped all over Phil Gramm's "nation of whiners" remark. And the RNC has continued to issue statements about a variety of issues--on the stimulus, and most recently on Obama's trip to Canada. Perhaps the RNC's silence is due to the shakeup Steele is undertaking at the RNC, and the chain of command for approving statements isn't settled. Or, maybe, they're afraid to step into the race minefield. Steele recently reiterated his commitment to reaching out to minority groups, which is a fine idea: If Republicans can win an extra 5 to 10 percent of black and Hispanic voters that's progress. But if the RNC is afraid to jump on Holder's offensive and false statement because they're worried that the Obama administration will play the race card against them, that's unfortunate. Last November, Townhall.com's Matt Lewis asked Steele: "Do you believe that because you are an African-American you might be able to critique Barack Obama in a way that your Republican colleagues may not be able to?" Steele replied: "I think that because I'm an American I'll be able to do that. ... When you're off base you're off base. It has nothing to do" with race. Steele said he was dismayed that the McCain campaign refused to discuss Jeremiah Wright because they feared having the race card played against them:

"The Obama campaign played the race card, and it worked beautifully." He said it hurt Bill Clinton, "tripped up Hillary Clinton," and that it also "stymied" John McCain because he wouldn't mention Reverend Wright. Steele argued that in taking Rev. Wright off the table, McCain surrendered the one issue that might have helped him win because "it went to the core" of Obama's character.

"That's not how you win elections," Steele added.