Michael Steele Threatens To Withhold RNC Funds From GOP Senators Who Backed Stimulus
This one passed unnoticed last night, but it’s definitely noteworthy — yet another measure of the degree to which the Republican Party has bet all its chips on opposing the stimulus package.
On Fox News, Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele said he was open to withholding RNC funds from the three GOP Senators who backed President Obama’s stimulus package:
Speaking of Senators Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, Steele said that the Senators were likely to face primaries as a result of their vote for the stimulus bill.
Then Steele was asked by Fox’s Neil Cavuto: “Will you, as RNC head, recommend no RNC funds being provided to help them?”
Steele confirmed that he would “talk to the state parties about.” When pressed on whether he was open to it, Steele said: “Oh, yes, I`m always open to everything, baby, absolutely.”
This is obviously about throwing red meat to the base, but it’s pretty interesting, because it sets the RNC up to take a hit from the right if he doesn’t follow through with this.
One other fun detail: Watch the video, and at the 16 second mark you’ll see that the backdrop to Steele’s opposition to the stim package is an indicator on the screen that the Dow has dropped 250 points.
Update: SEIU national political director Jon Youngdahl emails over a statement slamming Steele. From the statement:
Threatening Senators Snowe, Collins and Specter at the ballot box for doing right by their constituents and voting in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is exactly the sort of out-of-touch partisan maneuver that got his party in the electoral position it’s in now.
Hundreds of thousands of families in Pennsylvania and Maine consider the tens of billions in aid secured by Senators Snowe, Collins, and Specter a much-needed lifeline in a time of unprecedented economic instability.
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So can we eliminate “moderate Republican” from the American lexicon now?
Of course all they think about is themselves. The Congress and House have jobs, health insurance and are able to make their mortgage payments on time. They even get to vote themselves their own raises! Do you really think they are concerned about their constituants? I think they are using our problems to manipulate their political careers.
But here is the thing, Snowe is going to crush whoever they put in front of her and Specter will probably scare any viable opponent from running against him in the primary. What Steele doesn’t seem to understand is that he has now put himself in a box. If he doesn’t primary those two (I believe Collins just got reelected) he is going to lose support in the party, but on the other hand if he DOES primary them and his candidates get crushed he is going to get it even worse. I swear I just want this clown to keep on talking, and thankfully FauxNooz will continue to give him a perpetual platform. And now lame is Steele? “Im open to anything baby” Sheesh
sg, agreed, it seems clear that by riling up the base this way he restricts his own movements.
Sen. Spector came close to losing the primary in 2004 to an opponent who was considerably more conservative. Add this to the facts that Pennsylvania is trending more Democrat overall, while the Republican party in Pennsylvania is steadily becoming more conservative, and that the Senator is already 80 years old, and I suspect he will very probably lose the primary, or if not, the general election: the same scenario as happened in the Congressional district where I now live, MD-01. I grew up in Philadelphia, where Specter was a much-admired District Attorney during my teen years. I’m sorry to see an honorable man go down to an ignominious defeat, even though I am a staunch Democrat myself.
Perhaps we are underestimating Steele. He is, after all, leap-frogging the Republicans right past the cutting edge.
But aside from that serious worry, we can note as well what Cavuto is up to here.
Check out Liz Sidoti out and out putting words in the President’s mouth about SS. How does this woman still have a job? The AP is ridiculous right now.
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http://firedoglake.com/2009/02/24/aps-liz-sidoti-puts-words-in-obamas-mouth-over-social-security/
@Bernie 11:01
The mental image you gave me with that leap-frogging is a frog sitting in a pot of water as it’s slowly warmed to the boiling point. . . hee hee hee!
Kelly – I do like that idea of Steele’s bum discomfitingly warm.
You’ll recall, of course, Bush’s famous instant of honesty where he described his purposeful repetition as “sort of catapulting the propaganda”. It seems to me that his conception is rather meager and unimaginative. I think we liberals can do better. Let’s extend the idea.
Imagine a catapult that’s set to sling some projectile towards the distant horizon. Don’t worry about the projectile, it can be something largish like a Volkswagon or something slightly smaller than that like Ann Coulter’s adam’s apple. Anyway, the catapult is loaded. Now imagine that first pre-loaded catapult is itself loaded into a second catapult as the projectile. You see where I’m going here? If you are a real Popular Mechanics reader, not just some kind of pseudo-intellectual pretender, you are getting this already. You are already thinking about the third catapult, and the fourth, all firing the earlier catapult. Exciting idea, isn’t it? Say that first catapult energetically flings Ann’s adam’s apple at a speed of 250 MPH. Actually, let’s fling the rest of her too. So there goes Ann zinging away at 250. But if the catapult that flings her is itself flung at 250, we’ve now got Ann going a pretty respectable 500 MPH, horizonward. Trees, barns, cows, even small mountains blurring past below. Add a third, shooting the second shooting the first and those cows won’t even have a chance to notice her (for which we now have a damned good reason to envy cows) moving at 750. And a fourth, and a fifth and more. Of course, we’ve all read Einstein’s general theory and we understand that there’s a limit here. Once we get Ann going at 186,000 miles per second, that’s it. We can’t do any better. We frogapult her up to the speed of light and she hits the wall.
If Specter is primaried, it will be from the purity conservative/hard right. Meaning if Specter loses in the primary, the door would be open for the Dem candidate to claim the moderate middle ground, which would all but guarantee a Dem would win the seat.
This is nothing but talk from Steele. If it isn’t then he’s going to be a blessing to the Democratic Party. “The Party of No” is going to marginalize themselves with all of their purity tests. These are still the remnants of those who came to be elected the Bush years. Remember Bush and Cheney were re-elected in the same election as the Senate class that is up for re-election in 2010 – they haven’t had to run for re-election when their party was in the minority. Their strong partisanship might have been what got them elected in 2004, I don’t think it’s going to work now.
“Frogapult” LMAO–now I need a new keyboard!
Snort!
Any odds on any of the “endangered” Republicans switching parties? From out here in the RedState of UT the in-office Repubs are starting to actually turn off the voting public (Obama carried three counties here during the general election, something that I wouldn’t have put money on). Our governor is at odds with the legislature AND is dissing the congressional delegation–but he’s a pragmatist and wears an R after his name mainly because it’s the only way to win a state-wide election here.
Hard to know, Kelley. I confess I’m a tad anxious in that we seem to be in the midst of a period of foment and realignment. This morning, Rupert Murdoch apologized for the murdered chimp cartoon. I understand that an apology from him is absolutely without precedent. Boehlert at media matters has a piece this morning detailing the extremities that the conservative movement media cranks are now engaged in. If things go relatively smoothly through whatever is to come in this shift or revolution or whatever it is, then I expect there will be fewer people running for seats as republican and others changing affiliation.
If Steele’ goal is a permanent 35-seat minority in the U.S., then he’s on the right track.
Clearly, Steve Urkel now heads the RNC.
I can’t believe that the word northeast isn’t anywhere in the post or the comments. If Steele succeeds, he’ll be the northern most Republican in the US. ‘cept for Joe Lieberman.
It is hugely satisfying to watch the conservative movement devour itself on national TV. This is close to bliss.
Steele is too dim to realize that, from the same election cycle in which he plans to punish these Republicans, the Democrats will no longer need them, in large part to fools like him.
Right on!! The RNC has too many “moderates” –read RINOs who vote with the dems. DON’T WANT THEM — DON’T NEED THEM. SEVERE RETRIBUTION is needed. If they leave — no loss. They voted with the dems anyway.
May be this party should put the ofrmer vp candidate in charge as she certainly seems to energise everyone one of her people where ever she goes.
also judging by the way obama numbers are falling maybe this party should hold of going hip hop
Steele hasn’t had an issue where he could do more than put his foot in his mouth. Perhaps he’s found one that would make him look good for his party. Of course, it’s hard not to wish ill on Snowe.
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