By DOUG IBENDAHL • August 27, 2009
The Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) Michael Steele was a guest Tuesday morning on the Don Wade & Roma radio show on WLS 890 AM.
Friends told me about the interview so I listened to the Podcast. I was immediately reminded why I stopped listening to Don & Roma several years ago - after once having been a loyal listener. Tuesday’s show was another pollyannaish lovefest with a mind-numbing amount of empty chatter. (Of course keep in mind WLS is the same Chicago radio station that now hosts the Rod Blagojevich show for two hours every Sunday.)
You can listen to the Don Wade & Roma segment with Michael Steele here.
The discussion about Mark Kirk starts six-and-a-half minutes into the segment. Host Don Wade asks Michael Steele: “Is the National Republican Party going to financially support Mark Kirk?”
Steele gushingly responds: “Oh my gosh - yeah!” Steele and the hosts then continue with fawning prattle in praise of the pro-gun grabbing, pro-homosexual agenda, pro-abortion, and pro-largest tax increase in history Mark Kirk. (Review Kirk’s entire pro-liberal Democrat record here.)
During the interview there is not even a peep about the fact that Kirk has several announced Republican primary opponents.
Here’s the problem for Steele. It’s the RNC’s own Rule 11 which states in part:
The Republican National Committee shall not, without the prior written and filed approval of all members of the Republican National Committee from the state involved, contribute money or in-kind aid to any candidate for any public or party office except the nominee of the Republican Party or a candidate who is unopposed in the Republican primary after the filing deadline for that office.
In other words, the RNC promises it won’t get involved in a Republican primary unless the three RNC members from that state have so authorized in writing.
Those three members from each state are the State Party Chairman, Republican National Committeeman, and the Republican National Committeewoman.
Pat Brady now has two of the three spots. He was already National Committeeman. Then last Thursday Andy McKenna resigned as State Chairman after the old guard decided he was finally used-up. Brady was given that title too in yet another backroom farce, so he’s now pulling double duty as the anti-reform faction’s stooge.
There is zero doubt Brady would sign-off on whatever pro-Kirk paperwork was put in front of him. Brady may have a reputation for picking fistfights on the street - but there’s no record of him fighting for the Republican Platform.
So that leaves our National Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte. To my knowledge she has not endorsed Kirk. The last time I spoke with her a couple of weeks ago she said she was getting tremendous pressure to endorse Kirk, but she was holding firm. Let’s hope that hasn’t changed.
If Steele does have the signed document as required by his own Rule 11, then he needs to produce it. Otherwise he shouldn’t be going on Illinois radio stations promising financial help to one candidate during a primary.
In fact it doesn’t even matter if the RNC hasn’t actually written a check to Kirk’s campaign yet. Just the fact that Steele in his capacity as RNC Chairman was publicly campaigning on the radio for Kirk - and Kirk alone - would clearly fall within the “in-kind aid” prohibited by Rule 11.
To make matters worse, last December when Steele was campaigning for the RNC Chairmanship he said this in a response to a questionnaire (see question 27):
To regain our credibility as the party of conservative principles, we need to identify and recruit talented candidates who will carry those principles into battle. I will support recruitment efforts wherever we don’t have an existing Republican candidate. I am not inclined to even attempt to pick winners in Republican primaries. I will support Republican nominees - all Republican nominees. [Emphasis added.]
It looks like that campaign promise has gone out the window.
Michael Steele’s office at the RNC refused to comment when contacted for this article.
A similar dustup over the misuse of the Party franchise is going on in Florida right now. There, Republican Governor Charlie Crist is making a run for U.S. Senate. He’s got a strong Republican challenger in conservative Marco Rubio. Republican activists have been rebelling all over Florida in response to some top party officials who are giving aid in the primary to the liberal Crist over the conservative Rubio. There’s even a website called Not One Red Cent! urging Republicans to withhold contributions from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRCC) because it has sided with Crist in the primary.
Illinois Republicans should follow the lead of their Florida brethren. Steele has already proven to be a big disappointment at the RNC and Pat Brady’s presence there is truly alarming.
And when it comes to the Illinois Republican Party, it goes without saying by now that no Republican should be contributing there until some accountability is restored with the passage of SB600.
Until our State Central Committee is accountable to Republican voters in real elections, there’s not going to be proper oversight. Your hard earned money will keep being squandered like this.
Finally, you might want to take a moment to tell Chairman Steele to stay out of our Republican primary. Tell him if he wants to shill for candidates who are pro-gun grabbing, pro-homosexual agenda, pro-abortion, and pro-largest tax increase in history - he should have run for Chairman of the DNC.
Here are all the email addresses listed on the RNC’s website as public contacts. There’s nothing wrong with sending your message to all of them at once: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected].
Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party.
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