Stick a fork in Steele, he's done!

The articles I posted in April and July of this year should have been a pretty good indication of what was to come. More proof that Affirmative Action is a bad idea!

Top RNC Aide Slams Steele For Failed Fundraising


Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins offered an abrupt resignation Tuesday, coupled with a stinging rebuke of Chairman Michael Steele and the committee's fundraising efforts in the midterm elections.

In a five-page letter to Steele and members of the RNC's executive committee, Collins said the party's lackluster fundraising effort contributed just a fraction of the amount of money to state parties that it had in previous cycles. That financial downturn, Collins said, prevented Republicans from capitalizing on an historic wave election and allowed Democrats to hold on in key races.

Collins' public rebuke of Steele's tenure is the latest indication that there are serious divisions within the RNC and that Steele, who is seeking a second term, will face a tough battle to hang on to the job.

Steele hired Collins, a top Republican operative who worked for former Gov. Mitt Romney in the 2008 cycle, in an effort to reassure donors and committee members that he was building an effective operation with seasoned and competent people in key roles. Collins is the latest staffer to leave disgruntled, but the first to have done so in such a public manner.

"Sadly, if left on its current path, the RNC will not be a productive force in the 2012 campaign," wrote Collins. "During the 2010 cycle, the RNC allowed its major donor base to wither."

Collins said the fundraising operation was ineffective, handing out a relative pittance to state parties and candidates while spending more money to raise less. Big donors who gave more than $1,000 contributed just 10.5 percent of the committee's fundraising, an incredible drop-off from recent years.

Meanwhile, Collins revealed the RNC has drawn down $15 million it had secured in lines of credit, and that unpaid bills owed by the committee are "likely to add millions to that debt." The money went to expenses other than the political department, which for the first time since the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill was passed did not fund an independent expenditure program.

What's more, even standard programs developed over decades failed to materialize. The RNC's 72-hour program of turning out voters "was left largely un-funded," Collins wrote, as RNC chief of staff Mike Leavitt withheld funding from states until October 22, a week before those funds were to be implemented.

The lack of funds had a real impact, Collins argued, contributing to Republican losses in Democratic-held seats the party might otherwise have contested. Collins points to 21 House races, stretching from Washington State to Arizona to New York and North Carolina, that the party left on the table, as well as to Senate races in Washington and Colorado and governorships in Vermont, Minnesota and Connecticut.

The 2012 elections represent "huge opportunities requiring massive obligations," Collins wrote. "And this Committee can meet them. But to meet them, we must dig out from huge debts, be focused and disciplined about spending wisely, only spend to win elections, and adopt a laser-like focus on the hard work of reviving our major donor fundraising network."

Collins' public rebuke is stunning in that he has shied away from ever commenting about the internal workings of the party. While staffers, former staffers and committee members have complained, Collins refused to speak with the press except on a handful of occasions while briefing reporters at committee meetings.

HL