“Since his election as RNC chairman, he has indulged an appetite for luxury hotels, chartered airplanes, expensive restaurants, and a lavish redecoration of his offices. Roll Call reported that Steele spent $18,500 to redecorate his dark-paneled office. “This is going to sound weird,” he explained, but “it’s too male for me.” Actually, more than anything, it sounds vain and self-indulgent. Among the new accoutrements — a Bowflex machine.
The Daily Caller (which broke the story of the Voyeur outing) also reported that the RNC spent $17,514 in the month of February alone for chartered airplanes, and that Steele had looked into the possibility of buying a private plane for the chairman’s use. When he travels, Steele stays at luxury hotels like the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Four Seasons. While raising decent amounts of cash, the Republican party under Steele has also burned through it quickly. Between July 2009 and February 2010, the GOP raised $63 million but spent $78 million, leaving the party without a solid cushion heading into the 2010 contests — and behaving all too much like the federal government.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://article.nationalreview.com/430412/go-quietly-michael-steele/mona-charen
I've just lived through eight years of Democrats demonizing George Bush, a leader that no one in their party can hold a candle to. Democrats know they are in trouble and they will be desperate to attack Republicans.
I have another stinking suspicion. I fear that entrenched donors within the Republican party will foster the "old guard" and try to hold sway against the will of the tea party movement. Especially since the GOP is behind the Dems in fund raising so far. You can't win elections without cash and there may be more of a fight for the direction of the party than we are aware of.