Some members of the Republican National Committee are grumbling about Chairman Michael Steele’s hiring of Belinda Cook as the RNC’s liaison to the 2012 convention — a full two years before the event. John Hayward at Human Events details Cook’s plush gig:

Her compensation package is astonishing: a $25,000 signing bonus, a $180,000 annual salary, and accommodations at a luxurious waterfront house in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, where the convention will be held. Her son and sister have also been hired by Steele, the latter for “hotel management consulting” to the tune of $25,000. All told, payments to the Cook family over the last three months have exceeded a hundred thousand dollars. . . .
This all amounts to roughly 18 times the usual spending on convention preparation at this point in a presidential election cycle… shoveled out by a Republican National Committee that’s having trouble paying its bills from the 2008 midterm elections.

Displeasure with Steele may fuel a challenge — or even several challenges. Politico’s Jonathan Martin says Ann Wagner, former chairwoman of the Missouri Republican Party, is taking to the field. She joins former Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis, the only other declared candidate in the race so far; 2008 GOP convention chair Maria Cino, who’s planning a run; and a stable of dark horses.