The incompetent, pseudo conservative, arrogant, and corrupt Michael Steele has got to go and I am happy to read that the message is getting out to the country clubbers (Bushites) that the money train will not stop at the station if he is retained as head of the RNC.
by Jonathan Martin
Some of the Republican Party’s most prominent donors reacted Tuesday with shock — and then fury — to Michael Steele’s decision to seek re-election, bluntly warning that they would not raise money for the party if the controversial chairman wins another term.
None of the contributors has a vote on the committee, but with worries about the debt-ridden party’s finances hanging over Steele, the unambiguous threats could further undermine the incumbent’s already-dim prospects for victory.
While nothing firm was planned, a number of the contributors said they had been in contact with one another since Steele’s announcement Monday night about what they could do to send a message to the 168 members of the committee who will decide the next chairman in January.
“If Mr. Steele were to prevail, it will further alienate the party’s major financial supporters and most active fundraisers,” said Wayne Berman, a top Washington lobbyist and bundler who served as the McCain presidential campaign’s finance chairman in 2008. “His arrogant style, cult of personality and embarrassing mismanagement are sources of great discontent with the major fundraisers of the party.”
Should Steele return as chairman, Berman added, it will spur many donors to do what they did in 2010 and “support the many successful third-party groups.”
Asked about his e-mail traffic since the announcement, the well-connected Berman cracked: “The phrase I have seen the most of is: Is he aware that denial isn’t a river in Egypt?”
[….]
Mel Sembler, another Floridian who also once served as the RNC’s Finance Chairman, expressed worry that if Steele continued atop the party it would make it more difficult for donors in the state to raise the $50 million needed for the GOP’s 2012 convention in Tampa.
“They’re spending money like drunken sailors up there,” Sembler said of the RNC, alluding to news accounts of how much the party was already paying to plan the convention. “And because of that major donors are concerned about how [the local organizers] will spend their money.”
If Steele stays in his post, Sembler predicted that contributors would “continue doing what they’ve done – continue going to these other organizations.”
Without the assistance of top donors, who can collect big checks and don’t require the overhead costs that go into raising low-dollar contributions, the party would have difficulty retiring what is at least $15 million in debt.
Even as Steele launched a re-election website and announced a campaign chair Tuesday, there were indications beyond the realm of the GOP’s donor class that the chairman had little support from beyond his core group of supporters on the committee.
Of about a half-dozen interviewed, not a single Republican senator was willing to get behind the incumbent. Most said that they were staying out of the intra-party contest, but all offered cool assessments about the sitting party chairman.
Asked about Steele’s decision to run, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) allowed that it’s “his prerogative,” before adding that “there are other people already in the race.”
[….]
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) went a step further, saying he was “looking for alternatives.”
“I appreciate his service, but 2012 is real important,” DeMint said of Steele.
A handful of the nation’s GOP governors, including Mississippi Gov. and former RNC Chairman Haley Barbour, have already indicated a desire for change atop the party.
[….]
Read the rest: GOP donors: We’ll leave if Steele stays
Tags: Michael Steele, RNC
