A defiant Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he is mending his spending but not stepping down.
"I hear our base out there, I hear the leadership," Steele told ABC's "Good Morning America." "And we're taking steps to make sure that we're even more -- how shall we say? -- fiscally conservative in our spending."
But asked whether he would resign, Steele bluntly responded, "No."
A recent Federal Election Commission report on RNC expenditures included hundreds of thousands spent on private jets, luxury hotels and a $1,946 reimbursement for a night at Voyeur, a sexy Los Angeles nightclub with a lesbian and bondage theme.
Steele said he was "angry" when he learned of the nightclub expenditure, took steps to deal with the situation -- then blamed his critics for blowing it out of proportion.
"I think a lot of this has really kind of taken it a lot further down the road and blowing it up larger than it needs to be," the chairman said.
So far, no leading Republican has come forward to call for Steele to step down, and if Steele is getting behind the scenes pressure to go, he sounds like he is resisting.
But pushing out the Republican Party's first black chairman is a tricky business, and many Republicans have so far preferred to criticize Steele's leadership while publicly stopping short of demanding his ouster.
A recent National Journal survey of Washington Republican insiders found that 71 percent believe Steele is a liability to the party, while 20 percent judged him an asset.
[ Inconvenient Factoid: Ignoring all the spin, the first black chairman of the RNC has reportedly raised $96 million since he was elected, but has already blown through most of it, with the fall midterm elections still seven months away-- Editor ]
Many top donors have said they will no longer donate to the committee, opting instead to give their money to congressional committees, the Republican Governors Association, or individual campaigns.
The key responsibility of the party chairman is raising money, and a new splinter group of former Republican officials is planning to challenge him on that front.
New American Crossroads includes former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan and former RNC co-Chairwoman Joanne Davidson. Former Chairman Ed Gillespie, along with former Bush administration political adviser Karl Rove, are also involved, among others.
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4 comments:
Steele is a democratic double agent. Going to kill the republicans from the inside.
As a lifelong Maryland Democrat, I say he's doing a WONDERFUL JOB, and I sincerely hope that he keeps doing whatever it takes to keep him busy and out of elected office in Maryland.
Republicans said "hell, we got to get us a one of dem black guys too". Now they want to throw him under the bus once they found that he won't cow tail to their every demand.
Michael has truly disappointed many supporters.
His playing the "race card" demonstrates that his character may lack the integrity necessary to be an effective leader.
He should have responded in an assertive manner and indicated that he would do a complete investigation, upon the completion of which, all culpable personnel would be disciplined or fired, and that new policies and internal controls would be enacted to prevent any similar expenditure or activity in the future.
In addition, he could have announced that a full report of the results would be released to supporters and the public upon completion.
Had that been his course of action, he could have refrained from using the "race card", and would have won the respect of many, along with boosting the image of the Republican National Committee and his leadership.
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