On the heels of a financial scandal, alleged extravagant spending and attendance at a lesbian bondage sex club in Los Angeles, major Republican contributors are demanding the resignation of the embattled, bumbling leader of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele.
The Daily Caller exposed damning financial records of the RNC, which showed multiple instances of exorbitantly expensive trips, hotels and flights recently, all coming from the donations of major party backers — though the RNC hastened to say Steele did not patronize the club.
It was hardly sufficient to stem the rising tide of discontent with the leadership provided by Steele, who has been under fire almost from the moment he was appointed as RNC chief two weeks after President Obama’s historic inauguration.
Douglas MacKinnon, former press secretary to Majority Leader Robert Dole, took the biggest swipe at Steele.”For those donors who truly believe in conservative values, this latest news about Steele has to be very disturbing,” he said, according to the Huffington Post. “No matter which side of the aisle you find yourself, if you are giving a political party your hard-earned money, you should have no doubts that it is going to be spent as advertised and not to provide a spoiled, egocentric, out-of-touch chairman with frivolous luxuries which are out of reach of the vast majority of the American people. Michael Steele needs to resign and let the RNC vote in a man or woman who understands that his or her needs do not come before the needs of the nation or the party.
Among the multiple questionable practices undertaken by Steele or committed under his leaderhip are chartered flights, limousine services and the fact that several GOP members ate a meal at a lesbian nightclub.
MacKinnon’s sentiments were buffered by Mark DeMoss, a longtime GOP donor who said he has discontinued donating to the RNC.”I think it certainly suggest a certain tone deafness,” confirmed Mark DeMoss, a longtime GOP donor. “I think it suggests either that you are out of touch or that you are more important than your constituents and your donors and either case is bad, whichever one you are guilty of.”
The RNC dismisses the pockets of opposition to Steele’s leadership as a sideshow distraction that lacks merit or reasoned judgement. They point to the reluctance of many donors to attach their names to their quotes blistering Steele.
–terry shropshire
