Ah, Michael Steele, we hope you last.

No other chairman of the GOP has captured headlines like Michael Steele. From questions over the motive of matching the race of one party leader with another, to being featured in Stephen Colbert Rap Battles, this is political entertainment at it's finest.

Unfortunately, we don't think it's going to last. Steele did something that GOP honchos are normally prohibited from doing: he made comments in favor of allowing women to make decisions about their reproductive rights. To a reporter.

Steele appeared in an online blog run by GQ. (Embarrassing full disclosure: I'm a subscriber.)

In the interview with Lisa DePaulo, Steele said this:

Q: How much of your pro-life stance, for you, is informed not just by your Catholic faith but by the fact that you were adopted?
Oh, a lot. Absolutely. I see the power of life in that—I mean, and the power of choice! The thing to keep in mind about it… Uh, you know, I think as a country we get off on these misguided conversations that throw around terms that really misrepresent truth.

Explain that.
The choice issue cuts two ways. You can choose life, or you can choose abortion. You know, my mother chose life. So, you know, I think the power of the argument of choice boils down to stating a case for one or the other.

Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.

You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.

That's right: the head of the Republican Party, which has an official anti-choice platform voted by their members, thinks that abortion is a personal choice for women to make. He said it in a very wishy-washy way that's sure to annoy individuals on both sides of the issue, but these comments are clear. Steele believes in individual freedom in making personal medical decisions.

We give him three months.


-Gabriel