WHEN IT RAINS AT THE RNC, IT POURS…. One of these days, the RNC will go an entire afternoon without suffering some new embarrassment. I’m just not sure when that day might come.
It certainly wasn’t yesterday.
In late November, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele pushed out his communications director, and brought on controversial GOP strategist Alex Castellanos to help shape the party’s message. On CNN yesterday, Castellanos not only announced that he’s parting ways with the RNC, he also suggested Steele should resign.
“Chairman Steele, I think, has lost the support of two important constituencies in the Republican Party,” he said, referring to the Congressional leadership and “a lot of our major donors, the donors who provide the money, the lifeblood, the oxygen the Republican Party needs to succeed on its mission to take back control of the House
“Perhaps a change in leadership here would thaw that and allow that support to flow,” Castellanos said.
“I think a change in direction now at this point would do the party good,” he said. “I think a change at this moment would be a good thing.”
Castellanos’ announcement came on the heels of news that a leading New Hampshire Republican member decided to resign from the national RNC, in part to protest the party’s recent problems.
These departures follow Monday’s staff shake-up, with RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay being shown the door, and strategist Curt Anderson also leaving. By all accounts, morale at the RNC is low, and “staffers at all levels of the RNC are eyeing the exits.”
For his part, the beleaguered Steele spent much of yesterday “calling rank-and-file members to reassure them that the RNC is on stable footing.” He was even able to share some good news for the party — the RNC raised $11.4 million in March, the best March in RNC history in a non-presidential-election year. The haul was likely the result of rank-and-file Republicans who were outraged by improvements to the health care system.
Nevertheless, the disarray at RNC headquarters yesterday appeared to get worse, not better, and many in the party keep wondering how many more shoes there are to drop.
