Tuesday's Starting Lineup

Good Tuesday morning. Congratulations to the Duke Blue Devils, this year's NCAA champions, and congratulations to the jerk who took our money in the pool.

Here's today's Starting Lineup, previewing the people who will matter in politics today:

RNC CHAIR MICHAEL STEELE: Here's an indication of the toll Steele's first year in office has taken: A single expenditure at a risque L.A. nightclub has cost the RNC's chief of staff his job, and the story has been assured of a second week of life. The expenditure wasn't Steele's fault, but at this point opponents are just looking for the next reason to criticize the embattled chairman.

RNC chief of staff Ken McKay was forced out of his job, we're told, after just a year atop the committee. Perhaps more telling, On Message Inc., the consulting firm that helped get Steele elected in the first place, said it would no longer work with the RNC. McKay allies called his departure a blow to the RNC, and we were stunned by the reaction from now-departed Steele ally Curt Anderson, head of On Message. "Ken is enormously talented and has been the guy who has kept things on track, he's the guy who steered the party through very successful elections last fall," Anderson told The Fix.

Anderson, along with top GOP consultant Blaise Hazelwood, got Steele elected in the first place. They made hundreds of thousands of dollars off the committee, conducting polls, establishing microtargeting programs and writing speeches for the committee. People even got frustrated with Anderson's control over the committee; one consultant with knowledge of the committee told us Anderson essentially ran the RNC over the last year.

MIKE LEAVITT: In McKay's place, Steele has tapped Mike Leavitt, who ran Steele's '06 MD SEN race. He's a well-regarded operator who knows how to win elections; ex-RNC chair Ed Gillespie was quick to voice support for Leavitt's promotion.

But in a town full of back-biting, Leavitt's enemies got a chance to sound off, too -- and they're likely to continue to find willing audiences; the press smells blood in the water, and the blind quotes that have so frustrated Steele's own aides are going to continue until the party can turn the page.

What Leavitt's ascension really does is ensure that Steele, for the first time, has total control of the committee he was elected to chair. Steele's top allies are in key positions now, and whether the committee succeeds or fails will depend on his own political skill. The RNC's first test: Its fundraising reports. We'll be watching closely to see how the RNC did against the DNC, as well as against its fellow GOP committees, the NRCC and the NRSC.

By the way, keep an eye on Hotline OnCall later today when we bring you a handy clip-and-save chart detailing committee spending over the last several years.

PA AND HI VOTERS: One way GOPers can turn the page and stop talking about the RNC: By winning special election seats in PA on May 18 and HI on May 22. The GOP could win both; businessman Tim Burns (R) and Honolulu city councilor Charles Djou (R) will have the money necessary to run their campaigns, and circumstances could be ripe for a takeover of 2 Dem-held seats.

We're starting to hear buzz that Dems are concerned about both districts, and they have reason to be. If the party were to lose either, it would be cast as a death knell for the Dem majority, and we wouldn't be surprised to see a new wave of retirements. Remember, it was the special election that sent ex-Rep. Ron Lewis (R-KY) to Congress in '94 that foretold Dems' demise that year.

But the elections present a problem for the NRCC, too. The 2 specials so far during Pres. Obama's term have both been in GOP-heavy seats. Dems have won both. The DCCC knows how to run and win a race; special elections put pressure on the NRCC, which already has limited resources, to demonstrate they can too.