Washington ? GOP Chairman Michael Steele thinks Republicans have “screwed up” for the most part in the years since Ronald Reagan was president. And, he adds in an interview on the heels of his new book’s release, Republicans won’t win back the House in fall elections and might not be ready to lead even if they do.

That forecast of failure sparked a pushback Tuesday at the GOP’s own National Republican Congressional Committee, whose aim is to elect Republicans, and delight at its counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Winning back the House would be difficult for Republicans, who are in a 256-178 minority with one vacancy. Steele’s book, “Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda,” released Monday by Regnery Publishing, offers his blueprint for the party’s resurgence. Several of the steps he proposes play off sticking to GOP principles.