From Roll Call:

After dodging arrows from his own party for a series of media missteps, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is now tempting the fire of Republican Senators, who fear that his lackluster management of their national party organization could cost them at the polls in 2010.
Capitol Hill Republicans are not calling for Steele’s head, and at least one key GOP Senator expects the newly installed RNC chairman to put the committee on even footing in the coming weeks. But Steele’s failure to hire a senior staff 40 days into his tenure is privately anguishing Republican operatives, with some suggesting that February’s fundraising report — due out March 20 — could determine whether the RNC chairman regains or further erodes the confidence of Republicans in Congress.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), up for re-election next year, said that for Republicans to be successful in President Barack Obama’s first midterm election and capitalize on what he sees as the potential for gains at the polls, the RNC must deliver for GOP candidates on fundraising, get-out-the-vote activities and messaging.
“We don’t have the luxury of time. I know they’re trying to get staffed up over there, so they’re working it,” said Thune, who won by a very narrow margin in 2004. “It needs to happen soon. Two-year election cycles go very, very quickly. They start earlier, they cost more, and so all of those different components that I just mentioned have to start aligning fairly quickly in order for us to be competitive.”