And Now Mehlman

First Ken Blackwell and Katharine Harris and Richard Pombo, then Rumsfeld, then Hastert, now Boy Kenny Mehlman:

Several Republican sources tell CNN that Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman is all but certain to step down at the end of the year, and the White House already is searching for a replacement or replacements to lead the party into the 2008 presidential campaign cycle.

Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mehlman has made clear to close associates for some time he was likely to leave after the 2006 elections -- and that there is no dissatisfaction with his performance in the midterm cycle. A third source confirmed Mehlman's leaving is a good possibility but said a final decision has not been made. "It would be wrong to call it a done deal," this source said.

This election is the gift that keeps on giving.

They're talking about whiny loser Michael Steele as his replacement. The guy who orchestrated this:

A Philadelphia Daily News columnist tracked down one of the unfortunate locals who had been tricked by the Michael Steele for Senate campaign to hand out deceptive pamphlets outside Maryland voting places. The result: a refreshingly candid indictment of the failed GOP candidate Steele, who now hopes to head up the Republican National Committee.

"I might not have a home," an outraged Yusuf El-Bedawi told the Daily News' Ronnie Polaneczky, "but that doesn't mean I don't care about right and wrong. No one has the right to use me that way."

The Steele campaign recruited six busloads of poor and homeless Philadelphians to hand out flyers to Maryland voters portraying Steele and his ticketmate, governor Bob Ehrlich, as Democrats. Steele is currently Maryland's lieutenant governor; Ehrlich is governor.

"People started screaming, at us, 'Do you think we're that stupid? What are you trying to pull?' " El-Bedawi told the writer. "I said, 'I didn't know it was a lie! I'm from Philly!' And they said, 'Then go back to Philly!'"

Dirty tricks and excessive martyrdom: sounds perfect to lead the Republican Party. I wonder if he'll make Mike Tyson and Don King, who both endorsed him, his "special deputies"?