Steele: Oops, he did it again

Sorry, Republicans—you’re stuck with Michael Steele, said Marc Ambinder in TheAtlantic.com. The tone-deaf Republican National Committee chairman had perhaps his most horrible week yet last week, after revelations that the RNC had picked up a $2,000 tab for a group of young donors who were entertained at a lesbian-bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood. Steele wasn’t at the club and didn’t approve the expenses. But the embarrassing “lesbian bondage” story broke at the same time that some Republicans were grumbling about Steele’s flamboyant spending of party dollars on his own comforts—$12,000 on limousines and $17,000 on private planes in a single month. Steele spent another $18,000 to decorate his office. To fire Steele, though, would take a two-thirds vote of the RNC’s members, and there’s no way that’ll happen. “Republicans don’t want to be stuck with the symbolism of having rejected their first elected black chairman.”

Still, Steele sure is making it hard for the GOP to keep him, said Steve Benen in Washington Monthly.com. While being interviewed on ABC, Steele seemed to defend President Obama by saying that both he and the president are lightning rods for criticism because they’re black. “Barack Obama has a slimmer margin” because he’s the first black president, Steele said. “It’s a different role for me to play and others to play and that’s just the reality of it.” The guy is “a loose cannon,” said Cynthia Tucker in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and he just can’t stop drawing attention to himself. Let’s face it: “Michael Steele is an affirmative action gone bad.” He’d be fired tomorrow, “if the Republican Party weren’t so self-conscious about its lack of diversity.”

Actually, Steele’s record as chairman isn’t that bad, said Kimberley Strassel in The Wall Street Journal. He’s out-fundraised the Democratic National Committee seven out of 12 months and added more than 500,000 first-time donors. And don’t forget the election victories in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. But he’s got to get over the delusion that he’s a “shadow president,” and focus on the nuts and bolts of building a war chest for November’s congressional elections. If the GOP takes over control of the House of Representatives, Steele will be a hero. If the pickup of seats is small, the calls for his head will rise to a roar.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up