Michael Steele’s comment does speak to the new Ron Paul wing (including Rand Paul) and a significant portion of the Tea Party in the GOP. The question will arise does the GOP gain from Steele’s comments on Afghanistan by attracting more “Ron Paul” style voters?

It may cause rumblings but the gain might be larger than a perceived loss which won’t occur since people that intend to vote Republican will not switch sides — regardless of Steele — since they won’t be voting for him come election day. Right now it’s just a PR problem with Steele’s comments and serves only to publicize an existing disunity that exists within the GOP.