To ask whether Michael Steele, the new Republican chairman, can remake his party, as some observers have done, is to raise the wrong question. No chairman has that power, and this is probably a good thing. The better question is whether Steele can do the chairman’s actual job well. What signs we have give us hope.

Not even his opponents during the race for chairman questioned Steele’s ability to carry himself well on television. He should do fine as one of the party’s public faces. The chairman’s less glamorous but crucial duties include administration and fundraising. We tend to think that the Democrats’ financial advantage in 2008 was more a symptom than a cause of their political edge, but the party is going to need better funding. Steele must do much of that work himself and recruit lieutenants who can do some of it for him.

Steele can also do quite a bit to address the party’s technological deficits. Republicans actually made some technological strides in the closing days of Mike Duncan’s chairmanship, but plenty remains to be done. Whether the chairman and his minions have Twitter accounts is not all that important; whether they are committed to using every technological means to mobilize volunteers, raise funds, and stay in touch with grassroots sentiment is. Then there is recruitment and organization. It is easy, and empty, to say that the party should not cede a single seat to its opponents. Resources, including money, are not infinite. There will always be triage on the political battlefield. Republicans should, however, be in a position to take advantage of opportunities anywhere they arise, and that means they have to invest in party-building in places as unlikely as a congressional district in New Orleans. More to the point: Republicans can and should run credible Senate candidates in Illinois, New York, Delaware, North Dakota, Nevada, Missouri, and Colorado in 2010. The idea that Republicans are a southern regional party is a fear that should not be allowed to become a fact. Steele will not be able to impose a unified message on the party if one does not develop organically. He can, however, perform a useful role in getting Republican officeholders and activists together, keeping lines of communication open and ideas circulating. (Sad to say, it does not always come easily to Republicans in the House and Senate to talk to one another.) The hope that Steele will “remake” the Republican party comes attached to the desire that it be remade in a socially liberal fashion. As a social conservative himself, Steele is unlikely to entertain any such ambition. Besides, social conservatism is not what has dragged the party down to defeat in two election cycles in a row. The failure to present an agenda that would advance the material interests of the middle class has been a much bigger problem. There, too, Steele can contribute to a Republican revival.