Anderson@Large

Curtains for Michael Steele

The vote to decide the fate of Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele starts today at approximately 12:45 pm ET.

The Associated Press reports:

His re-election bid in serious doubt, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele sought support from members of his party's central committee Thursday as he struggled to avert defeat after a free-spending, gaffe-filled two years.

[…]

Weary of Steele's gaffes, missteps and high spending, many members of the cash-strapped central seemed eager to boot Steele from the job after only two years and make room for someone new. Steele's RNC raised almost $80 million ahead of November elections, spent all of it and then took out a $15 million loan.

Steele reportedly will stay in the race until the final round. But the election outcome is a foregone conclusion. With a $20 $21.3 million debt, "slum love" doesn't pay the bills.

Steele Won and Done

As I watched the Republican National Committee chairman's debate, it was clear RNC Chairman Michael Steele has lost his swagga. Truth be told, Steele's claim to street cred was always laughable.

Equally laughable was Steele taking credit for every Republican victory since 2009:

My record stands for itself. We won. I was asked to win elections...We won.

Whatever. I don't think Steele won any new supporters among the 168 members of the Committee who will decide his fate on Jan. 14.

At the same time, I don't think his challengers scored a knockout punch. They took jabs at Steele, but they mostly came across as workhorses who would “work like a dog” and focus on reducing the RNC's $20 million debt.

Still, I think Steele is one and done. He has lost the confidence of major donors and the self-styled hip-hop chairman should know “it's all about the benjamins, baby.”

The bottom line: Steele has worn out his welcome. He doesn't stand a prayer of a chance of winning reelection.

At one point in the debate, Steele said, “All of us are going to need to retire. Sooner than later for some.” That may have been a Freudian slip.

In any case, Steele, a former seminary student, should accept he “ain't got long to steal away.”

2011 RNC Chairman’s Debate

I had planned to attend the RNC's chairman's debate at the National Press Club. Instead, I am stuck in Philadelphia so I will watch it on C-SPAN.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said:

The actual vote for RNC Chairman will be made by the 168 members of the Committee, but the impact will be felt by all. Therefore, every activist should play a role in questioning the candidates and communicating with RNC members who cast votes...just like lobbying your Congressman and Senators.

As in 2009, the current chairman is fighting to hold on to his job. Then it was Mike Duncan. Now, it's Michael Steele, who won on the sixth ballot.

Although Steele takes credit for the Democrats' shellacking in the midterm elections, he may not make it to the second ballot. Politico reports a majority of Committee members oppose him.

Steele is being challenged by Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus, former Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis, former RNC co-chairman Ann Wagner, longtime GOP operative Maria Cino, and former RNC political director Gentry Collins. Collins dropped out of the race last night.

According to the National Journal Whip Count, Priebus is leading the pack with 30 public endorsements, followed by Steele with 15. To win, a candidate must gain the support of 85 of the 168 Committee members. As of Jan. 1, 92 are undeclared.

The debate will be streamed live beginning at 1:00 pm. ET.

A Christmas Wish from Hollis, Queens

During an appearance on CNN’s “Parker Spitzer,” radio personality Stephen A. Smith expressed his concern that “the Democratic Party has taken the black vote for granted for quite some time.”

Smith said:

We don’t sit back and say, “You know what, I’m not going to just give my vote to the Democratic Party.” I want to stand by as an individual, with individual opinions. I want to see what you’re offering if you’re the Republican Party. I want to see what you’re offering if you’re the Democratic Party, and I want to gauge what’s in my best interest. The black community has not done that for decades. Since the days of Barry Goldwater, for crying out loud. Or Lyndon B. Johnson.

Smith continued:

At the same time, who in God’s name told us all that the Republicans are evil and the Democrats are angels? Excuse me. The last time I checked they’re all on Capitol Hill.

Smith is from Hollis, Queens. It would indeed be a merry Christmas and happy new year if black folks played hard to get and demanded competition for their vote.

Steele Got Republicans Talking

In the wake of Republican National Committee Chairman (for now) Michael Steele’s announcement that he will seek a second term, Republicans have started talking and telling everything they know.

On his reelection campaign website Steele says:

We fired Pelosi so let’s increase our resources and strength to take back the Senate, elect new governors, and ultimately a principled Republican leader to serve as President of the United States. United, we can make a difference for America and its future.

Like a rooster who takes credit for the sunrise, Steele claims credit for Democrats’ shellacking in the midterm elections.

The case against Steele is laid out in a National Review editorial:

His engaging manner on TV was one of his attractions as a chairman two years ago. It quickly went sour. Steele doesn’t have the discipline of a party operative. Whether it was lashing out at Rush Limbaugh or calling Afghanistan “a war of Obama’s choosing,” his gaffes distracted from the work at hand. Meanwhile, the $20,000-apiece corporate speeches, the Regnery book, and the accompanying media plugs all gave Steele, fairly or not, the whiff of the political profiteer.

Likewise, his tactical choices seemed at times driven as much by personal exigencies as by party priorities. In September, with midterms kicking into high gear and every piece of data indicating that Republicans could make substantial incursions into key blue districts, where was Steele? Speechifying and fundraising in Guam — no doubt in part because the party committeemen of Guam and other U.S. territories in the Pacific and Caribbean broke heavily for Steele in 2008. A similar calculus could explain why Steele sent $20,000 from his state parties’ budget to the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, which has no voting members of Congress, zero electoral votes, and a population roughly the size of Scranton’s.

[...]

Steele’s poor performance as chairman has had one fortunate side effect — it has created a robust field of alternatives. It gives us no pleasure to say this, but none of them would be worse than Steele, and we believe any of them would be better. Someone else deserves a chance at the top of the RNC.

Read more: Anybody but Steele

Steele Won’t Go Away

Everyone has had house guests who cannot take a hint. You’ve washed and put away the dishes, looked at your watch and yawned. And.They’re.Still.There.

Welcome to the drama that is unfolding at the Republican National Committee. Last night, RNC chairman Michael Steele announced he will seek reelection.

In a conference call with RNC members, Steele asked for understanding and a second term:

So tonight I come to my bosses with a record that only you can judge, based upon directions you made clear to me from the very beginning. Yes I have stumbled along the way, but have always accounted to you for such shortcomings. No excuses. No lies. No hidden agenda.

Going forward, I ask for your support and your vote for a second term. Our work is not done; and my commitment has not ended. I believe the worst thing we can do now is to look backwards. Who you elect as our next Chairman will speak volumes about our willingness to truly be the party of Lincoln. What we do as a party must reflect the realities of the political marketplace and the voters. Growth for our movement requires new allies. We can no longer settle in the safe harbor of our comfort zone, but must reach beyond ourselves for the next generation.

Steele later told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren:

My style is a little bit different than most conventional party chairmen. My style is more grassroots oriented, I’m much more of a street guy. I love hanging out in boardrooms, but I prefer to be in the neighborhoods and communities.

Will Steele be the HNIC or kicked to the curb when the votes are counted next month?

Candidates for RNC Chair Attend Tea-infused Forum

The National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar heralds the GOP as the party of diversity:

The GOP success this year in electing minority leaders who can appeal to a wide cross-section of voters should serve as a wake-up call to Democrats, who are accustomed to carrying the mantle of diversity. If Democrats don’t address their own challenges recruiting minority candidates with widespread appeal, the rise of Obama could be more the exception than the rule.

There will be less diversity at the top when the Republican National Committee elects its new chairman in January.

I had planned to attend FreedomWorks’ tea-party-cum-candidate-forum to vet the candidates for the position of RNC chairman. Instead, I was stuck in Philadelphia so I viewed the live stream of the event.

Four of the six announced candidates showed up -- Michigan GOP national committeeman Saul Anuzis; former RNC political director Gentry Collins, former RNC co-chairwoman Ann Wagner and former RNC chairman Mike Duncan.

The candidates agreed that current chairman Michael Steele failed as a fundraiser and steward of the party’s finances. Collins said:

The party under his leadership failed to raise the major donor money it is going to require to defeat Barack Obama, defeat his policies and defeat his ideology and agenda in 2012.

Anuzis noted, “It takes two things to win an election: money and everything else.” And added:

We are in a situation where we need a different type of leader for a different type of challenge. We’re going to have to raise more money than we ever have before, and we have to put together a better ground operation than we have before.

Although no frontrunner emerged, Anuzis was the clear favorite of the online audience.

Steele has yet to say whether he will seek a second term, but he was the clear loser.

The final nails in Steele’s coffin are reports of too many Cooks on the RNC payroll. The Daily Caller reports:

If it wasn’t enough for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s former personal assistant, her son and her sister to be leading the preparations for the party’s national convention in Tampa in 2012, fear not. There are more Cooks in the RNC’s kitchen.

Also on the payroll of the Committee on Arrangements for the Republican National Convention is Pamela Kesner, Belinda Cook’s niece.

While Steele fancies himself a chairman for the grassroots, they also want him to get to stepping. A new Public Policy Polling survey found Republican voters oppose his reelection by more than a 2:1 margin.

It looks like the party is over for Steele.