Wow.  The infighting is very ugly:

In a little-noticed interview Saturday night, Steele dismissed Limbaugh as an “entertainer” whose show is “incendiary” and “ugly.”

Steele’s criticism makes him the highest-ranking Republican to pick a fight with the popular and polarizing conservative talk show host.

But the new RNC chairman’s extraordinary comments won’t sit well with the millions of conservative listeners Limbaugh draws each week, and Steele aides scrambled to limit the damage Monday morning by trying to change the subject.

Yes, said Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, I’m incendiary, and yes, it’s ugly. Michael Steele, you are head of the RNC. You are not head of the Republican Party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the RNC and right now they want nothing to do with it, and when you call them, asking them for money, they hang up on you. I hope that changes. I hope the RNC will get its act together…

It seems to me that it’s Michael Steele who is off to a shaky start….

Now, Mr. Steele, if it is your position as the chairman of the Republican National Committee that you want a left wing Democrat president and a left wing Democrat Congress to succeed in advancing their agenda, if it’s your position that you want President Obama and Speaker Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid to succeed with their massive spending and taxing and nationalization plans, I think you have some explaining to do.

Why are you running the Republican Party? Why do you claim you lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it that President Obama succeeds? I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda…

Steve Benen adds:

Democrats would, under normal circumstances, work very hard to drive a wedge between the Republican Party's leadership and its activist base. Over the last couple of weeks, that's happening anyway, without Dems having to lift a finger.

The one person rank-and-file Republicans follow with the most enthusiasm is using his show to bash the Republican Party, insult the RNC chairman, and undermine the party's fundraising efforts. What's more, with his comments yesterday, Steele effectively baited Limbaugh into launching today's tirade, which only keeps the right-wing blowhard front and center for another day.

If the DNC were writing the script, it would look quite a bit like this.
The next step will be the RNC's efforts to mend fences and make Limbaugh (and his audience) happy again. We'll see how that goes.