GOP donors are thinking it’s a good time to be a Republican, but maybe they’d be better off not being a Michael Steele Republican.
The GOP’s path to making Congressional gains during this fall’s midterm elections might be making a detour to bypass Steele’s Republican National Committee. While calls for Steele’s ouster have subsided, outside GOP groups and the campaign committees are getting more attention — and money — from Republicans eager to seize an election opportunity without the fuss and controversy of today’s RNC.
“These groups are all seeing a renewed interest as donors are roused up by being against Obama’s health care plan, and they are looking for a place to make a difference. This is inside-the-beltway stuff, but a lot of donors are deciding the RNC isn’t that place right now,” a top Republican strategist familiar with the RNC and outside GOP groups told me in an interview.
We’ve learned that groups like the conservative Club for Growth and Freedom Works, which has helped the tea party movement, are seeing a boost in membership and fundraising. “No matter who is chairman Republicans are going to have a great cycle there’s no doubt about that, so people are looking at other ways to get involved,” the strategist said.
GOPers hesitated to declare they’d work around the RNC, but several sources familiar with fundraising told me they saw a bump to their coffers when things started melting down in recent weeks. Among the highlights, a low-level staffer who ran the Young Eagles program for young Republican donors was fired for asking to reimbursed for a $2,000 tab at a bondage-themed strip club. The chief of staff was ousted as the press took a closer look at the RNC’s spending under Steele’s already beleaguered tenure.
Top Republican figures Ed Gillespie, Mike Duncan and Karl Rove formed a 527 called American Crossroads this month, and say they have $30 million in pledged donations. Rove and Gillespie have defended Steele in television interviews, however.
Yesterday we took a look at the National Republican Trust PAC, which is aiming to put the “trust” back in Republican campaigning. The executive director told me that donors who think Steele’s GOP doesn’t share their values.
“It’s not like the RNC is just going to fold, but conservatives and Republicans have been looking for strong leadership,” executive director Scott Wheeler said. “Donors will start looking for better leaders and these groups showing up nationwide.”
Another GOP consultant I interviewed said to keep an eye on independent expenditure groups like the one that helped Mike Huckabee (R-AR) during his 2008 presidential run. If more of those groups form in the next six months, the RNC might actually be in long-term trouble, the consultant said.
Steele, meanwhile, has been working the phones to console the 168 members of the committee. He’s scheduled to speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference Saturday. If Steele doesn’t regain the control of his party, Republicans say more and more disgruntled donors will escape and instead funnel funds through outside groups with better management.
A Republican familiar with the RNC and the committees working to elect more Republicans said it seemed like fundraising was stronger for campaign committees in the month of March when Steele’s largest problems arose. “There has defintely been nothing but an increase in major donors,” the Republican said.
No totals are in yet for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, but the Republican Governors Association raised a record $9 million haul in the first quarter of 2010. RGA Chairman Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) said on CNN this week that the group would be “prepared” if the RNC’s fundraising is lackluster due to Steele’s woes.
(The RNC announced yesterday they raised $11.4 million in March — a big take but less than the at least $13 million the Democrats pulled in.)
Top conservatives, including the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, have advised Republicans in recent days to donate their money elsewhere. Online donations, which one GOP strategist told me are key to measuring party energy, have been on the rise to the other groups.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin asked the RNC remove her name from the SRLC fundraiser they are hosting this week in New Orleans.
Late Update: Palin defended Steele in an interview last night on Fox News.
We also heard from Republican operative Roger Stone, who said Steele isn’t the issue. “The RNC will not be the centre of gravity for the thumping GOP victories that are coming. … Although RNC money will dry up GOP donors will still donate politically to independent conservative PACs to get the job done.”
Additional reporting by Justin Elliott
