+Republican Party | 498 days ago

The 2011 RNC Winter Meeting

By Jay Newton-Small

Two years ago, the GOP was reeling from two brutal elections and a seeming eternity in the minority. As they gather for their annual winter meeting this year they have control of one chamber of Congress and are within striking distance of the other. That will not save, it seems, Chairman Michael Steele whose tenure was marked with gaffs and who leaves the Republican National Committee nearly $20 million in debt just as it’s scrambling to fund a massive redistricting push. Politico reported that 88 of the 168 Republican National Committee members told the paper that they will not vote for Steele. A majority of 85 is needed to win.

As it stands now, according Hotline’s excellent tally, Steele is trailing Wisconsin GOP Chair Reince Priebus, a former Steele ally who ran Steele’s 2009 campaign for chairman. Priebus has 41 confirmed votes, including today’s endorsement by the powerful outgoing New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman John Sununu. Priebus is hoping to take the lead on the first ballot; in 2009, Steele’s first ballot advantage over former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan set the tone and gave him momentum. Steele currently has 17 confirmed votes followed by Saul Anuzis and Ann Wagner with 14 votes apiece and Maria Cino with 12 votes. Which means the largest bloc – 70 votes – remains undecided.

The process of electing an RNC chairman is quirky and enigmatic. There are often several ballots – all are secret. Tomorrow’s vote is expected to be no different. In the first ballot Steele is expected to get anywhere from 40-60 votes – a thank you from members he helped with money and resources in the last two elections. The second ballot will be more important: will Priebus get enough of Steele defectors to win outright? Or could a dark horse emerge?

Of the other candidates, Cino has the most momentum of late. The former Bush Administration official has the support of Speaker John Boehner and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Boehner even stayed behind from last night’s Tucson memorial service in order to attend a fundraiser for Cino. That said, the 168 highly localized RNC committee members often react negatively to inside-the-Beltway pressure: a Connecticut member Boehner called for Cino last week ended up announcing his support for someone else.

+State Governments | 528 days ago

GOP Steel(e)s For An Ugly RNC Race

By Jay Newton-Small

On paper, Michael Steele should be a shoo-in for reelection as chairman of the Republican National Committee. He presided over the Party’s return from political Siberia as President Obama entered the White House in early 2009 to massive victories in the 2010 midterm elections. Under Steele, the GOP first won gubernatorial victories in New Jersey [...]

+Health Care | 660 days ago

Health Care Reform Sentiment – Beyond Missouri

By Kate Pickert

Today, Republicans are celebrating the fact that Missouri voters just overwhelmingly approved a state anti-health reform ballot initiative. The measure, which says Missouri residents can’t be required to maintain health insurance, is largely symbolic since federal law trumps state law. There was almost no organized opposition to the measure and the various races in the [...]

+Republican Party | 693 days ago

Building Immunity to Iocane Powder

By Jay Newton-Small

NBC’s First Read has found a videotape of RNC Chairman Michael Steele at a Connecticut fundraiser (above). The audio’s not great but in it Steele seems to suggest that President Obama is responsible for the war in Afghanistan. “Keep in mind again, this was a war of Obama’s choosing. This was not something the United [...]

+Uncategorized | 714 days ago

Out of the Spotlight and Into the Margins

By Kate Pickert

Ben Smith has nabbed a letter from some wealthy Republican donors urging others to send money to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Smith notes, rightly, that this is further evidence that although RNC Chair Michael Steele is no longer in the spotlight as a liability to the party, he’s still being marginalized – in an [...]

+Supreme Court | 746 days ago

Marshalled Opposition

By Adam Sorensen

Updated, see below. Jay has a bit of RNC chair Michael Steele’s skeptical response to Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination, but there’s another facet in the full statement. He implicitly criticizes Kagan for her relationship with Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked early in her career (emphasis mine): Given Kagan’s opposition to allowing military recruiters access [...]

+Uncategorized | 788 days ago

Michael Steele, Living Large

By Karen Tumulty

The Daily Caller examines the Republican National Committee’s FEC filings, and discovers a few things that are not likely to go over well with GOP donors. Such as: Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills [...]

+Republican Party | 794 days ago

A GOP Silver Lining

By Jay Newton-Small

The passage of health care reform hasn’t been easy for the GOP. But there is a silver lining (though, some Republicans might argue that encouraging their party chairman is not exactly in the Party’s best interests): Michael Steele has finally figured out a way to raise money. The RNC’s webite, www.firenancypelosi.com, which depicts the Speaker as [...]

+State Governments | 813 days ago

Steele Looks to Scare Some Donors, Actually He Already Does

By Jay Newton-Small

Politico got an exclusive look inside the Republican National Committee’s fundraising scheme for the rest of the year. It seems chairman Michael Steele is going to try and scare donors into giving him cash by fear-mongering about the “socialist” government President Obama will usher in without their help to oppose him. I would say this [...]

+Harry Reid | 865 days ago

Michael Steele, Liz Cheney and the Carnival of Buncombe

By Michael Scherer

National politics is a circus, a carnival, a battlefield, a 24-7-Drudge-Cable-Politico mudfest–and yet still, somehow, serious adults find a way to run the stuff. Think about the terribly boring suits in the Congressional leadership, on K Street or in the best White House offices. It has always been thus. Think too about the past chairmen [...]