Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/steele-limbaugh-clash-sparks-debate-over-next-steps-for-gop Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript New questions are surfacing over the future of the Republican Party amid a public dispute between GOP National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. Political analysts assess what's next for the GOP. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: After losing political ground in Congress in the nation's statehouses and especially at the White House, the Republican Party is at a crossroads. But who is speaking for the GOP, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh…RUSH LIMBAUGH, radio talk show host: This notion that I want the president to fail, folks, this shows you a sign of the problem we've got. GWEN IFILL: … or newly elected party chairman Michael Steele?MICHAEL STEELE, Republican Party chairman: Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it's incendiary. Yes, it's ugly. GWEN IFILL: Limbaugh was cheered over the weekend when he appeared before a Conservative Political Action Conference. And Steele, after being chided by Limbaugh for his critique, apologized, telling the Politico newspaper, "There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."Democrats, including the president himself and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, have fanned the flames of the apparent conflict.RAHM EMANUEL, White House chief of staff: And it's our desire that the Republicans would work with us and try to be constructive rather than adopt the philosophy of somebody like Rush Limbaugh, who's praying for failure.BOB SCHIEFFER, host, "Face the Nation": Who do you think now speaks for the Republican Party? RAHM EMANUEL: You just named him. It was Rush Limbaugh. He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. NARRATOR: What did they say to 3.5 million jobs?REP. JOHN BOEHNER, R-Ohio, House minority leader: No. NARRATOR: What did they say to tax cuts? GWEN IFILL: Americans United for Change, a liberal group aligned with the Democratic Party, repeated that theme in a campaign-style ad. NARRATOR: So who are Republican leaders listening to? RUSH LIMBAUGH: I want him to fail.