"For those of us who are still so old-fashioned as to be concerned about someone's ability to do the job, the question about Michael Steele is whether he can pick up the shattered pieces of the Republicans and put them together again to form a winning party.... Michael Steele can talk. That is even rarer among Republicans than being black."

-- Stanford economist Thomas Sowell, writing about the election of Michael Steele as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

http://townhall.com/Columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/02/04/republicans_as_democrats_part_ii