In the wake of Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins’ spectacular departure from the RNC yesterday, chairman Michael Steele has tapped two veterans of the last two presidential cycles to replace him.
Collins left in a very public huff, dropping a letter on the RNC’s executive committee that all but declared Steele incompetent to run the committee heading into the 2012 cycle. The RNC reacted by defending Steele’s results and pulling in two new people to take over where Collins left off.
Jon Seaton, former John McCain campaign director in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and John Peschong, a former official in the Reagan administration and Senior Strategist for both McCain and George W. Bush, will be joining Steele’s team at the RNC as Senior Political Advisors.
Though the political struggle in the Republican Party these days often involves purging the establishment, Steele’s selection of Seaton and Peschong ensures the RNC is grabbing the old of the old guard with both hands. Seaton ran Bush’s Washington state operations before he worked for McCain and Peschong was a former director of ex-VP Dan Quayle’s PAC.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Best Boss Ever? Michael Steele & The RNC Interns]
It’s unclear how long the pair will keep their new jobs. Steele is under increasing pressure not to seek a second term as RNC chair, and is expected by many insiders to lose if he runs (some say rumors of his demise are a bit exaggerated, however.)
Steele faces an ever-growing field of potential rivals that includes a diverse group from across the Republican spectrum. Among them, according to the Washington Post, is Collins himself, whose letter yesterday created more embarrassment for Steele as the RNC’s January elections approach.
