Posted on 04/05/2010 7:00:32 PM PDT by iowamark
Embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele released a defiant statement...
...two GOP officials stepped down today -- top GOP donor Sam Fox stepped down from his position on an RNC fundraising committee, and Ken McKay stepped down as RNC Chief of Staff.
In his statement, Steele announced he was appointing McKay's deputy, Mike Leavitt, to take his spot.
According to a Republican close to the RNC, the elevation of Mike Leavitt -- who managed Steele's unsuccessful Senate campaign -- could spell more trouble for the RNC.
Leavitt has been overseeing communications for the past two months, and during that time, four communications staffers have left the RNC, fed up with Leavitt's "bluster" and leadership style, said the Republican who spoke on condition that his name not be used...
...several GOP powerhouses, including former Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, have formed a new group to raise $50 million for Republican candidates, giving GOP donors a way to bypass the RNC.
The group is called "American Crossroads," a new conservative PAC that some are calling the "shadow RNC." The group will target wealthy donors and corporations and likely compete with the RNC.
So far, it has already raised $30 million in commitments from contributors, according to the National Journal. Its goal is to raise $52 million.
Under Steele's leadership, the RNC has spent more money than it raised this election cycle. According to campaign finance reports released in late March, the RNC raised $7.69 milllion, but spent $7.71 million...
Ken Blackwell, who lost to Steele in the race to be RNC Chairman, called Steele's race remarks "nonsense."
"There is a pattern of missteps, miscues, and misstatements and as a consequence we now can't fall back on the issue of race," he told ABC News.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Great. If the Republicans manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in November, I’m officially done with them.
http://www.nlpc.org/stories/2010/04/04/rnc-chair-michael-steele-asked-withdraw-sharpton-event
“”RNC Chair Steele Should Withdraw From Sharpton Event
By Peter Flaherty 04/04/2010
NLPC today asked Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele to cancel his scheduled participation in the annual conference of Al Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network [1] (NAN). According to the conference agenda [2], Steele is scheduled to speak at a “Special Plenary Session” on Wednesday, April 14.
In a hand-delivered letter today, I write:
Just because Barack Obama and much of the media have made the mistake of treating Sharpton like a legitimate public figure, it doesn’t mean that you should.
Sharpton has encouraged anti-Semitism and violence. He remains unrepentant for accusing innocent persons of hate crimes in the Tawana Brawley episode and the Duke rape case. I have enclosed our Special Report by Dr. Carl Horowitz titled Mainstreaming Demagoguery: Al Sharpton’s Rise to Respectability, [3] published last year.
Sharpton has a trail of unpaid bills and taxes. He has engaged in massive violations of election law. As a result of Complaints filed by NLPC with the Federal Election Commission, Sharpton was fined $285,000 [4], had to repay $100,000 in taxpayer matching funds for his 2004 presidential campaign, and was denied another $79,000 for which he had previously qualified. How can you attack political corruption, and at the same time associate with Sharpton?
You also undercut our efforts to monitor and end corporate support for NAN. NLPC is currently sponsoring a shareholder proposal with Colgate-Palmolive asking the company to disclose its contributions to NAN. Last year, Colgate-Palmolive identified itself as NAN’s “Corporation of the Year.” [5] But when consumers contacted the company to protest in the wake of Sharpton’s attacks on Rush Limbaugh, they were told that the company does not support Sharpton.
As the first African-American Chairman of the Republican National Committee, you have a unique chance to offer a vision of race relations based on individual rights and equal opportunity. Showing up at this race hustler’s conference does not further this vision. You should not go.
“”
I for one will not give a dime to the RNC as long as Steele is there.
One way or another Republicans always find a way to stop any positive inertia that comes their way.
Sam Fox is 81. Time to step down.
Ken Blackwell, who lost to Steele in the race to be RNC Chairman, called Steele’s race remarks “nonsense.”
“There is a pattern of missteps, miscues, and misstatements and as a consequence we now can’t fall back on the issue of race,” he told ABC News.
That is the end of Steele if Blackwell turned on him....
Pro-GOP freeps can’t plead for party unity when the party itself is splitting like mitochondria?
On the other hand, if we the people manage to nominate a bunch of conservatives to run as Republicans this fall and then elect many of them in an enormous GOP sweep with little or no help from GOP officialdom, we can then demand that the RNC clean house starting with the race-baiting Steele and start laying the groundwork for more conservative gains in 2012.
Not a Dime to any party, Selective to Candidates only based on their History, Stances on subjects (speaking about the Constitution), and Gut feelings.
Just when the GOP is on the cusp of victory in November, we turn into a circular firing squad.
I like Ronald Reagan’s 11 commandment “A Republican shall not speak badly about another Republican.”
Michael Steele has been effective - he helped us win 3 out of the past 3 big elections (Christie, McDonnell and Scott Brown).
I don’t approve of strip clubs, but for gosh sake’s let him finish his term and then kick him out AFTER the elections.
I swear the GOP is afraid of victory and finds some way to screw it up when things look so good for us right now.
Where is the “American Crossroads” web site at?
Sam Fox is a very honorable guy. He is a sharp 81 years young. He is disapointed in how the RNC is being run. He only has backed winners.
I don’t think Blackwell is particularly loyal to Steele, but Blackwell (unlike Steele) is a team player and won’t make such comments about the RNC chair lightly.
3 for 4. Don’t forget NY-23.
Big time donors fretting about Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's troubles are helping fuel early fundraising success for a new 527 group being promoted by GOP uber strategists Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove.
The duo, capitalizing on upbeat expectations about GOP congressional prospects this year, spent time in Texas about a month ago. They visited with several of the state's super rich political donors and came away with a sizeable pledge from Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who was a big bundler in 2008 for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The new 527 group, American Crossroads, has been assembled quietly but is expected to play a big role in helping the GOP improve their fortunes in congressional contests this fall.
-snip-
So far, the new soft-money group, American Crossroads, has received commitments of almost $30 million and is seeking to raise a total of some $60 million to help dozens of Senate and House incumbents and challengers this fall, say three sources familiar with the new 527. In contrast, at the start of January, the Republican National Committee had only $8.4 million in the bank compared with the $22.8 million it had on had a year earlier when Steele was elected chairman.”
http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/03/big-time-donors-not-so.php
Look, even this Fox guy could make mistakes. As sharp as he might be he's 81.
Nope, doesn't work that way.
This all boils down to the leadership, or lack thereof, of Steele. Steele is running and crying to the media and playing the race card. There really is no highlight of Steele’s first year, just a string of low lights.
Whatever I am no longer giving to the RNC. I have and will give to the canidate directly. The RNC blows the money running the machine. We need to the money directly with the source.
I knew Sam’s kids when I was growing up in St. Louis. He runs a fine company and his kids did not fall far from the tree.
He's been too busy humping his "12 Step Program On How To Stop Obama" book to even worry about any of that.
Steele was just a long to ride the coat tails.
Sam’s 81. Virtually all human beings begin to have some serious physical problems at that age and back out of active participatory management of anything.
What does an 81-year old have to do with the lack of leadership qualities of Steele?
I have no problem with Steele. He vexes the Democrats, which is always a positive.
Plus I like the idea of shoving the fact a black man leads the party in their faces. Democrats are, after all, the actual racists.
YOu missed the whole point didn’t you. May I encourage you in the future to read the story about Sam Fox. He’s upset about the lesbian bondage theme tittybar more than anything else.
I read the story, so Sam Fox steps down because he's disenchanted with the leader of the GOP.
He’s upset about the lesbian bondage theme tittybar more than anything else.
No, he's upset at the lack of leadership coming from Steele. Like Obama, Steele has yet to actually lead.
Besides, I think Steele has been given enough chances to right the GOP ship, but he seems more interested in being a media star, whoring for the media and pushing a book he wrote. It’s been over a year now, and his first year at the helm of the GOP has been an abject failure.
Someone who complains that Republicans are racists - which is the undeniable assumption in Steele’s remarks - should be tossed out of ANY role whatsoever!
We haven’t won squat because of Steele’s efforts.
Oh, great. So he’s going to make the RNC even MORE inbred and incompetent.
The Stupid Party is bound and determined not to win the next election no matter how badly the Democrats screw our country.
You say circular firing squad; what I see is a RINO hunt.
LLS
It is entirely debatable if that’s what Steele meant. You take it in the context of an interview with Stuffin’envelopes and it can mean all sorts of things. I’d much preferred it if Steele had just pulled a pistol and shot him, but they don’t allow that these days.
There were people who probably weren't all that happy with some of our commanders at various points of the Civil War or WW II, but the enemy was THE ENEMY and losing was not an option.
The quote doesn’t leave a lot of room for ‘context’.
On the contrary. We have won despite the efforts of the GOP and Steele to water down Conservatism.
Best way to deal with that is just walk away or shoot the interviewer.
The Dems must be loving this. . .
bookmark
So shoot the interviewer.
“Your question is stupid, because it assumes Republicans are racists and bigots. More, it assumes America is an evil, racist society - and I reject that as utter nonsense. Now, do you have any thoughtful questions, or should I go do something worthwhile, like drink a cup of coffee?”
Post #4
I told the RNC I will send them no more money ,, instead I will support any true conservatives candidates DIRECTLY who wish to challenge RINOs like McCain , Grahmm , Snowe , Collins and others . Dump Steele ,, Target RINOs .
FGS it's a volunteer position and all it takes is connections. Those don't age.
This is part of the Grand Scheme.
I don't believe Michael Steele got involved in any of these races until he saw where the parade was going.....then, like most politicians, he ran to get out in front of it. All three of these men ran their own campaigns without any help (or interference) from the RNC. Where the RNC helped was in NY23 with Dede Scarfaza (sp), the liberal Republican instead of the conservative.
As another poster mentioned earlier, Steele will try to take credit for our upcoming sweep in the November elections, but every time I see an endorsement from Washington it's for some RINO.....in Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, etc. I can't imagine any previous RNC Chair who was as out of touch with the electorate as Steele is.
Fire Steele.
Hire Sarah to run the RNC her way.
Win the House and Senate.
Shut down the Obama agenda.
Sarah 2012.
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