He also should mobilize both social and fiscal conservatives, said Rick Tyler, longtime Newt Gingrich associate and president of Renewing American Leadership. Those two groups "need to understand that when both show up at the polls, they both win -- not either-or, but both," Tyler said.
Makes sense: Social conservatives consistently vote pro-business, pro-tax cut, pro-fiscal responsibility and pro-limited government. Not so with social moderates, who routinely vote for bigger, more expensive government (think senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine or Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter).
"Most importantly," Tyler added, Steele must "lead first, respond second. People need a binary choice between two futures; something always beats nothing, every time."
Right now, enormous opportunity exists to harness the power of the "tea parties" inspired by CNBC's Rick Santelli, to defend the productive class and the small businesses that are under attack with the fall of the economy and the rise of government.
Besides, Barack Obama will not stay on top forever. The evidence is in the polling.
On a personal level, Obama has spectacular poll numbers. Yet once the campaign is done and you're president, personal poll numbers take a backseat to the polling of your policies.
The leading indicator of how Obama is doing is his policies, which right now hover at a 51 percent approval rating. The trailing indicator is his personal approval rating, which has dipped to a still-impressive 59 percent.
"The rejection of those policies should be Steele's message focus," said Tyler. "The people dissatisfied are the people who make the country work -- they are in every state, every town, and every neighborhood."
And Steele could be their champion, he added. "All he needs to do is speak for and defend them."