When I was in college, Salon was a dream job, one I never thought I'd get. It didn't let me down; working here has been a fantastic experience. I'd thank everyone who's helped me over the years individually, but we'd be here all day, because there are just so many great people at Salon. So instead, let me just thank everyone I've worked with -- though, really, mere thanks are inadequate for everything they've done for me.

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The resignation is effective immediately, the RNC announced. Mike Leavitt, who worked on Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign and has been the party's deputy chief of staff, will be replacing him.

This move comes in the wake of revelations that the RNC allowed a staffer to expense the cost of taking potential donors to a Los Angeles nightclub that often features topless women, with a bondage theme. That news had only sharpened the criticism Steele has faced over the organization's spending during his tenure, and increased the pressure on him to do something about it. It appears this resignation is both an attempt to show something is being done and to throw McKay under the proverbial bus.

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Now, though, McCain is in another Republican primary, facing a legitimate challenger from his right -- former Rep. J.D. Hayworth -- in a decidedly anti-incumbent year. So he's been reinventing himself to some extent. He went to the right on immigration, for instance, despite the fact that his moderation on the issue had been one of his signatures between the 2000 and 2008 campaigns.

The senator's latest step in that direction goes much further than that, however.

"'Maverick' is a mantle McCain no longer claims; in fact, he now denies he ever was one," Newsweek's David Margolick reports in a new article, quoting McCain as saying, "I never considered myself a maverick."

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Conservatives farther out on the fringe might be wary of the Census, but Rove is smart enough -- and mainstream enough -- to know that it could be politically disastrous for the Republican Party if the right has an unusually low response rate. That might be what's motivating him here.

The ad:

Hat-tip to the Washington Post's Federal Eye.

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They never really went away, actually -- in all likelihood, unfortunately, they never will -- but the people who believe President Obama doesn't meet the Constitution's eligibility requirements for his office have at least faded from the news lately. Now, some are working to change that, and they have a new figurehead to rally behind.

Last week, the American Patriot Foundation announced that Army Lt. Col Terrence Lakin, a flight surgeon, has decided that he'll refuse to obey any and all orders because of his concerns over the circumstances of Obama's birth and birth certificate.

"I am today compelled to make the distasteful choice to invite my own court martial, in pursuit of the truth about the president's eligibility under the constitution to hold office," Lakin said in a release. (He's also spoken in a YouTube video about his decision; it can be viewed at the bottom of this post.)

Lakin isn't the first member of the military to become a Birther cause celebre. The case that brought the now-infamous Orly Taitz her first real mainstream media attention involved another one.

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A show that actually involved Palin going out and interviewing the people profiled on "Real American Stories" might well prove to be pretty good television. As an interview subject, Palin's flubbed more than her fair share of opportunities. But she does have a considerable personal magnetism, a skill with people similar to former President Clinton's -- there's a reason she's gotten as far in politics as she has, and that she's inspired such a devoted following -- and watching her use it as an interviewer could be interesting.

Instead, Palin came in for some embarrassment even before the show aired, when one of the marquee guests Fox announced, rapper LL Cool J, objected to his inclusion as the interview had been conducted by someone else back in 2008. Fox pulled the segment, but Thursday's broadcast made clear that it wasn't an isolated problem.

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Still, conservatives have been dogged about pushing Republican politicians to support a strict line on repeal. For the most part, it's worked, as deviations from the party line have been quickly slapped down. But now some Republican senators are starting to paint a more realistic picture.

"It may not be total repeal at the end of the day," North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, who's up for reelection, said in a recent interview. "It may be a series of fixes over the course of this bill getting enacted that allow us to change and possibly bend that cost curve down."

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker was less subtle. Talking about repeal efforts on Wednesday, Corker said, "The fact is that's not going to happen, OK?"

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All that means that the National Republican Senatorial Committee may be the leading contender for best joke of the day. Seriously.

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Rick Santorum has some high hurdles to overcome, but don't write him off. Just as Mike Huckabee came out of nowhere to pose a credible challenge to John McCain in 2008, Santorum may also surprise in 2012.

Yes, this means Lewis thinks that the former Pennsylvania senator is a viable presidential candidate two years from now.

It's an interesting thought exercise -- and Lewis does make some good points -- but probably not much more than that. Santorum has a whole lot of baggage. And, more importantly, the economy is likely to remain a major issue come 2012. If it is, someone like Santorum whose identity centers around social, not economic, conservatism is at a real disadvantage.

But Santorum and his advisors have a strategy, Lewis reports:

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Fox News had announced the rapper as a guest on the debut episode of Palin's new show, "Real American Stories." The announcement -- and the oddity of it -- did serve to prompt some interest in the premiere. But then LL stepped in, announcing on Twitter, "Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palin's Show. WOW."

Fox says the interview was originally part of an online series also called "Real American Stories," the Los Angeles Times reports. But it decided to pull the segment anyway, and a spokeswoman said, "[A]s it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career."

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Republicans have long called for this kind of drilling -- it was the impetus for the "Drill, baby, drill!" chant of the 2008 GOP convention. But Boehner slammed the move and the president anyway, saying the administration hadn't gone far enough:

The Obama Administration continues to defy the will of the American people who strongly supported the bipartisan decision of Congress in 2008 to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling not just off the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, but off the Pacific Coast and Alaskan shores as well. Opening up areas off the Virginia coast to offshore production is a positive step, but keeping the Pacific Coast and Alaska, as well as the most promising resources off the Gulf of Mexico, under lock and key makes no sense at a time when gasoline prices are rising and Americans are asking "Where are the jobs?"

It's long past time for this Administration to stop delaying American energy production off all our shores and start listening to the American people who want an "all of the above" strategy to produce more American energy and create more jobs. Republicans are listening to the American people and have proposed a better solution -- the American Energy Act -- which will lower gas prices, increase American energy production, promote new clean and renewable sources of energy, and encourage greater efficiency and conservation.

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Under the administration's plan, which has not yet been officially announced but which was detailed for reporters from multiple outlets, 167 million acres of the Atlantic coast, from Delaware to Florida, would be opened. So would another roughly 130 million acres in the Arctic Ocean, and areas in the Gulf of Mexico. The Pacific coast would remain closed to drilling, as would environmentally sensitive areas like Bristol Bay in Alaska, where the Bush administration had wanted to allow exploration.

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Even before the bill passed, there was a wide enthusiasm gap -- Republican voters are simply much more energized this year than Democrats are. And since a midterm like this one typically ends up hinging on base motivation, that's bad news for the blue team.

According to CNN's latest survey, that gap remains. Back in January, 31 percent of Democrats said they were either "extremely enthusiastic" or "very enthusiastic" about voting this year, compared with 49 percent of Republicans who said the same thing. Now, it's 36 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of Republicans.

That said, though, here's something to consider -- and this was an argument that leading Democrats made to wavering members of Congress in the days before the healthcare vote: What would these numbers look like if reform hadn't passed?

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But there's a problem for Reid. Seems Ashjian isn't exactly the ideal candidate -- in fact, a local prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant for him over some bad checks he allegedly wrote. He faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted. (Hat-tip to Political Wire.)

To get a sense as to just how big of a blow this might be to Reid, consider this: One tea party group, Tea Party Express, considered Ashjian enough of a threat to the majority leader's Republican opponents that it's taken out an ad specifically disavowing him, and there have been charges he's a Democratic plant.

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"You know, we just got through (electing) a politician who can run his mouth at Mach 1, a black one, and now we have a Hispanic who can run his mouth at Mach 1," Day said. "You look at their track records and they're both pretty gritty. Charlie has not got a gritty track record."

Day confirmed he was speaking of Obama and Rubio.

"You've got the black one with the reading thing. He can go as fast as the speed of light and has no idea what he's saying," Day said. "I put Rubio in that same category, except I don't know if he's using one of those readers."

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Republicans wanted Attorney General Thurbert Baker to join colleagues from more than a dozen other states in suing the federal government over the new law. But Baker, a Democrat who's running for governor this year, refused. (For the record, the consensus among legal scholars, even some on the right, seems to be that these suits have little chance of succeeding.)

That's led to some efforts to get around him -- incumbent Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, came up with the idea of appointing a "special attorney general" to file suit instead -- and one effort to just get him out of office altogether. Today, one member of the state legislature reportedly filed articles of impeachment against Baker.

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That staffer has been identified as Allison Meyers, who was in charge of the RNC's "Young Eagles" program. In that role, Meyers worked on outreach to donors in their 30's and 40's.

The RNC has been circulating an internal memo on the controversy written by Chief of Staff Ken McKay. In it, McKay writes:

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From a post on Palin's Facebook page, ostensibly about the NCAA men's basketball tournament (emphases in the original):

To the teams that desire making it this far next year: Gear up! In the battle, set your sights on next season’s targets! From the shot across the bow -- the first second’s tip-off -- your leaders will be in the enemy’s crosshairs, so you must execute strong defensive tactics. You won’t win only playing defense, so get on offense! The crossfire is intense, so penetrate through enemy territory by bombing through the press, and use your strong weapons – your Big Guns – to drive to the hole. Shoot with accuracy; aim high and remember it takes blood, sweat and tears to win.

Focus on the goal and fight for it. If the gate is closed, go over the fence. If the fence is too high, pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, parachute in. If the other side tries to push back, your attitude should be “go for it.” Get in their faces and argue with them. (Sound familiar?!) Every possession is a battle; you’ll only win the war if you’ve picked your battles wisely. No matter how tough it gets, never retreat, instead RELOAD!

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The man who actually spent the money has been identified as Erik Brown, a Republican consultant. And the RNC maintains that Steele had no involvement whatsoever.

"The chairman was never at the location in question; he had no knowledge of the expenditure, nor does he find the use of committee funds at such a location at all acceptable," an RNC spokesman has said.

That may not be enough to get him off the hook altogther, however. There's still the issue of an expenditure like this being approved at all, and there's a larger context of skepticism about consultants that Steele has brought in during his tenure at the RNC; that was one of the reasons RNC members forced the chairman to give up some of his control over the group's finances.

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