Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's announcement Monday that he will seek a second term as chairman of the committee stunned the political world and left strategists scrambling to assess the impact he could have on the contest.
Steele, in a detailed statement released last night announcing his intentions, sought to claim credit for Republican gains at the ballot box in November and insisted his job was only half done...
...While Steele's stridency to prove his naysayers wrong is without question, his ability to win the race is far less clear. Sources knowledgeable about the alliances of the 168 members of the RNC estimate the chairman's support at roughly 40-50 votes -- roughly half of those he would need to claim a second term.
How Steele plans to build beyond that base -- and whether he can -- remains to be seen but it's hard to see his reelection campaign succeeding, particularly given the forces lined up against him and with other candidates.
The current favorite, in fact, seems to be Wisconsin Republican party chairman Reince Priebus who managed Steele's 2009 RNC campaign. Priebus has been gathering support from committee members formerly loyal to Steele.
The performance of Steele was a recurring topic among Colorado Republicans in advance of last August's Primary, especially after reports of lavish spending emerged in the spring. Colorado Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams has tentatively supported Steele both recently and during a summer visit. Other Colorado Republicans have been less supportive, including Rep.-elect Cory Gardner, who tossed Steele to the Tea Party wolves in April.
THURSDAY UPDATE: A true-life case of biting the hand that feeds you, says the Colorado Independent:
State Rep and 4th District Congressional candidate Cory Gardner dissed Republican National Committee Chairman Michel Steele at a Fort Collins 9/12 group last week. Gardner told locals asking for the controversial Chairman's head to call Party leaders and complain. "It's happening" he said, meaning there was a move on to can Steele, a prodigious fundraiser but also a flash-point kind of figure, who spends extravagantly on himself and has taken heat lately for allowing RNC officials to treat young big donors to strip-club outings.
Yet Gardner has benefited enormously from the support of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which early in the race named him to its "Young Guns" program and has been key in Gardner's impressive fundraising totals all year. Turns out Steele's Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee set up a joint fundraising committee this month that will pool donor lists and inject mega cash into key House races, like the one between Gardner and Democrat Betsy Markey.
After all the effort and credibility Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams has put into defending Republican National Committee chair Michael Steelelately, it's got to be tough to watch CD-4 candidate Cory Gardner -- fast becoming the undisputed king of self-inflicted wounds -- casually throw Steele to the "Tea Party" lions. Here's a transcript of what you're listening to above, recorded at a "9/12 Movement" candidate forum in Fort Collins last week:
9/12 Audience Member: How can we get rid of Michael Steele? I'd like to get rid of him.
Cory Gardner: You know, I think it's happening.
9/12 Audience Member: I've sent two letters.
Cory Gardner: You know what, I think we have. [Pols emphasis] Call up Mark Hillman and Lilly Nunez, our national party committeeman and woman who make the decisions. Neither Lilly nor Hillman voted for him to be chairman. So don't blame them. Mark Hillman and Lilly Nunez, our national committeeman and national committeewoman.
Gardner might want to go ahead and give Dick Wadhams a call to mend fences--there's a difference between idly joining the bandwagon ("Birther" flirtations) and saying things that might actually jeopardize relationships. Then again, maybe Wadhams isn't the one Gardner needs to call, as Dick's a big boy and the discussion did turn inevitably to Jane Norton's Referendum C...
Cory Gardner: Well, Referendum C. Remember in 2005, Referendum C was a measure that was sent to the voters. And it asked voters whether they wanted to take a "5 year time out" from TABOR. Meaning that the state would get to keep all excess funds and tax revenue and they wouldn't refund it us. When the legislature referred, and I was not in the legislature at the time, if I was I would have voted no...
Because, you know, letting the voters vote on tax increases is, uh, not what TABOR is about. How do they keep these talking points straight, anyway? You're right, though, Gardner won't need to call Norton, because Norton's defensive tackle Josh Penry has already got this on his calendar. Or maybe the plan is for Gardner and Norton to never appear together on the same stage? We suppose they can try just try glossing over this little difference of opinion when they do, but the 9/12ers might not find that very believable.
It wasn't long ago that new RNC Chair Michael Steele was forced to apologize to Rush Limbaugh for not being nice to him. Now Steele has made another boo-boo, as The Washington Post reports:
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele was on the receiving end of a fresh round of criticism from prominent party members yesterday after an interview was released in which he referred to abortion as an "individual choice."
His comments to GQ magazine inflamed abortion opponents, one of the GOP's core constituencies, and further complicated an already difficult first month on the job for Steele.
Former Ohio secretary of state J. Kenneth Blackwell, who endorsed Steele in the RNC chairman's race, harshly condemned the remark. "Chairman Steele needs to reread the Bible, the U.S. Constitution and the 2008 GOP Platform," Blackwell said. "He then needs to get to work or get out of the way."
Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential candidate, called Steele's comments "very troubling" in a post on his Huck PAC Web site. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, condemned Steele's comments as "cavalier" and "flippant," adding that the chairman's remarks "reinforce the belief by many social conservatives that one major party is unfriendly while the other gives only lip service to core moral issues."
Steele probably screwed up in his comments, but it doesn't help the GOP in general to keep sniping at their own leader - particularly when the average voter already considers the Republican Party leaderless.
