Steele Trip Looks Like Re-Election Bid
RNC chair Michael Steele is earning some frequent flier miles to outlying US territories in a trip that looks more like his own re-election bid than it does an effort to gain ground for the GOP this Election Day.
Steele has made recent trips to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where a spokesman said he held 5 fundraisers over a weekend. Next month, Steele will head to Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands for fundraisers on behalf of GOP candidates, after a swing to AZ, CA and HI.
To political observers, the trip might look superfluous. Delegates to Congress elected from the island territories cannot vote in Congress, and national parties rarely pay attention to territorial governors.
But to RNC insiders, the trip has a clear purpose: Setting Steele up for his own re-election bid next Jan.
Under RNC rules, each state and territory gets to send 3 voters -- a state chair, a national committeeman and a national committeewoman -- to party meetings. Each state has an equal number of votes, meaning the Virgin Islands and Guam have as many votes, combined, as TX and CA.
And one of the many factors RNC leaders have to contend with when counting votes is that the island delegates generally vote with each other. That's 15 of 168 votes, including members from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.
In '09, those voters coalesced around Steele on the final ballot, when he faced ex-SC GOP chair Katon Dawson. Rumors flew that deals had been cut, though strategists close to Steele vehemently denied any promises had been made. Still, during Steele's tenure, the RNC has sent $20K to the Northern Mariana Islands, and 2 top staffers to Guam for party-building activities.
Many RNC members who are not fond of Steele see this as the foundation of Steele's re-election bid. He is simultaneously standing up for those who cast ballots for him and campaigning for votes for next year, they believe. Steele will also embark on a bus tour after Labor Day, spending 6 weeks campaigning for GOPers -- another powerful way to remind the 168 voting members of the RNC he can deliver the bacon as chairman.
Doug Heye, an RNC spokesman, defended the trip as an extension of Steele's earlier promises. "He had said very publicly that he was going to visit territories, and he's been asked to raise money for candidates and the local parties, and he's doing so," Heye said.
But Heye would not entertain suggestions that the trip might be aimed at Steele's own future.
"The committee remains focused on Republican victories in November," was all he said.
If Steele decides to seek another 2-year term this Jan., he will face a host of challengers critical of his handling of the national party's budget. Already, ex-ND GOP chair Gary Emineth has stepped down to explore a challenge to Steele. Ex-Sen. Norm Coleman and RGA executive director Nick Ayers have also been floated as potential rivals.
Several other current and former RNC members are jockeying for position, calling friends, allies and donors to gauge early support, even though publicly they insist they are focused completely on the Nov. midterms.
For our look at other possible candidates for RNC chairman, click here.
Steele's cronies must have convinced his enormous ego that he has no chance at the presidency?
Then what is the purpose of his bus tour that will only accomplish spending RNC resources to increase Steele's name id? -- Donor dollars that would be best spent on traditional voter contact and advocacy efforts.
The real question is whether Steele is exerting his usual fiscal prudence, spending RNC dollars on private jets, 5 star resort hotels, and expensive restaurants during his tour of the tropics.
And it is odd that the party of fiscal responsibility and a strong moral compass would choose to re-elect and keep irresponsible and unethical Steele at its helm.