[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
politics and politicians Title: GOP Chief Michael Steele Fights For Second Term (01-14) 08:46 PST OXON HILL, Md. (AP) -- Will he be fired or not? And if not Michael Steele as GOP chief, then who? It was anyone's guess as the election of the next Republican National Committee chairman got under way Friday. Steele, the embattled party leader who surprised even his closest aides by seeking re-election, is seeking to hold off four challengers accusing him of financial mismanagement and poor stewardship during his rocky two-year tenure. "I want to thank you so much for the chance to serve at a time when our party was changing, struggling to grow, regain its footing, find its voice, reconnect with people and to stand proud again," Steele told the 168 members of the RNC during its winter meeting. Members were voting Friday by secret ballot on who should serve as party chairman during the 2012 presidential election cycle, when Republicans will try to defeat President Barack Obama. Eighty-five votes are needed for victory. Steele, a telegenic though gaffe-prone party leader, registered some level of public support at the RNC's winter meeting. But many committee members were keeping their intentions private and several rounds of votes are expected, making it impossible to predict the outcome. Steele argues that he should be elected because of the GOP's record of coast-to-coast victories while he was chairman last fall, including winning control of the House. But he doesn't mention that Republican operatives formed a network of outside groups that adopted traditional national party functions out of a concern about the RNC's ability under Steele to raise money and deploy resources to key races. Steele's challengers were: Reince Priebus, the Wisconsin Republican Party chairman who ran Steele's chairmanship bid in 2009; Maria Cino, a New York native and a veteran party operative who served in the Bush administration; Ann Wagner, a former Missouri state GOP chair who once was an ambassador under George W. Bush; and Saul Anuzis, a former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party who lost to Steele two years ago. The victor will be tasked with running the top Republican Party organization in the country. The job includes serving as the top spokesman promoting the party's agenda and countering that of Democrats, raising money to help Republicans win in the next elections, and beefing up a get-out-the-vote effort that critics say languished under Steele. Most urgently, the new chairman must retire an RNC debt of nearly $22 million owed to vendors and banks, as well as lure back demoralized donors who have been so frustrated with Steele's management that they sent their dollars elsewhere or didn't open their wallets at all last year. The party had only about $1 million cash on hand at year's end. The next leader also will have to figure out how to navigate a GOP civil war in which conservatives and tea party disciples are trying to pull the Republican Party even further to the right, much to the chagrin of moderates and some longtime establishment leaders. The first black to lead the Republican Party, Steele was a party outsider elected to a two-year term in January 2008 just as Obama — the country's first black president — was taking office. Since then, Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, has spent much of his tenure fending off criticism. He faced frequent complaints about questionable spending, anemic fundraising, staff shake-ups and cringe-inducing comments. Longtime establishment Republicans and GOP elders in Washington argued that he damaged the party's image and its long-term fiscal health. Steele angered them by predicting the GOP wouldn't win House control last fall; Republicans did win. He also drew their ire when he criticized fellow Republicans in a book that GOP leaders didn't know he was writing until it was published. He lashed out at critics, telling them to "get a life" and "shut up." Steele also drew fire for giving $20,000 to the GOP in the Northern Mariana Islands, and for collecting payment for his speeches. Demands for him to resign came last year after the disclosure that RNC money was spent on a $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California night club, and when he said that the 9-year-old conflict in Afghanistan was a mistaken "war of Obama's choosing." It began under Bush.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|