Since a slew of embarrassing stories about the Republican National Committee's spending habits dominated political news coverage several weeks ago, the normally ubiquitous RNC Chairman Michael Steele has kept a relatively low profile.
On a slow-news Friday, however, he agreed to a mid-day sit down with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. Things went smoothly for a while, with Steele deftly deflecting questions about Republican primary elections and the fairness of charging the president with having no counter-terrorism strategy. Then the topic turned to the RNC's recent spending controversies -- the committee paid for rather lavish items (private jets, swank hotels a winter meeting in Hawaii) and, in one instance, forked over $2,000 for a night at a bondage-themed club.
"You've got to be kidding," the chairman bemoaned, accusing Mitchell of reading "Democratic talking points for God sakes."
"I'm not kidding at all," replied Mitchell.
"What evidence do you have of lavishness at our winter meeting in Hawaii?" Steele asked.
"While you guys were having luau, we were digging our way out of snow banks," said Mitchell, in reference to Washington D.C.'s massive blizzards this winter.
As for the more substantive exchanges, Steele insisted that every organization has an expenditure (a la the lesbian-bondage theme club) for which they are embarrassed.
"So you mean to tell me not one employee of your organization has done something that the management's not proud of?" he asked, with Mitchell offering an audible snicker in the background. "So that happens. It is what happens in the business. We dealt with it very effectively. That individual was let go because they knew better. That is not how we operate here. That is not how we treat the resources that are given to us by many on fixed incomes. And so I think the media just needs to put it all in the proper perspective and recognize that is not how we operate."
Earlier Mitchell asked about reports that Republicans donors were essentially circumventing the RNC, giving instead to outside groups like the one that GOP operatives Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie and other heavyweight Republican donors helped start. Steele actually cheered the development, saying that campaign finance laws were too restrictive for the Republican moneyed-class.
"Ed Gillespie can take a million dollars," Steele said. "McCain Feingold only allows me to take 60,000, so they're doing a very good service to the party by expanding the reach and opportunity we have to engage as MoveOn.org and the George Soros' of the world have done for the Democrats."
