Steele’s management questioned in RNC race

Republican Michael Steele is singling out his time
managing GOPAC as the reason he should be the party’s chairman, but some of his
detractors would disagree.

Steele, the former lieutenant governor in Maryland, is a
leading candidate for the top job at the Republican National Committee (RNC)
and believes his time at GOPAC gives him a leg up in the race.

{mosads}But several GOP committee members are questioning Steele’s
tenure as the chairman of the 527 organization that recruits and trains
up-and-coming stars, saying he spent too much money on political consultants
and not enough money on candidates.

Some are even interpreting recent comments made by Karl
Rove, President Bush’s top political adviser, in a Wall Street Journal column as a direct shot at Steele’s management
skills.

Rove praised former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.)
in the column, saying he understood the importance of training future party
leaders when he ran GOPAC in the late 1980s.

“It needs to be revitalized or its original mission taken
up by a fresh group,” Rove wrote.

Steele and his allies dispute such characterizations,
pointing out that the organization spent more money on state and local
candidates and on training tools in the 2008 cycle than at any time in the
group’s 30-year history.

“They’re probably going after Steele on GOPAC
because they see him as the front-runner in the chair’s race and they have to
tear down anything he’s associated with,” said David Avella, the group’s
executive director.

What is certain is that Steele has used the organization
to promote his own candidacy for national chairman, both as an organizing tool
and as a way to bolster his own credentials.

Some of the candidates GOPAC promotes will be those who
cast ballots as members of the national committee. Spotlighting promising
candidates from around the country, GOPAC’s newsletter in the last three weeks has highlighted
four state legislators who happen to be members of the RNC.

But they will also hear arguments that Steele spent too
freely on pricey consultants.

According to reports filed with the IRS, GOPAC spent more
than $5.7 million on fundraising, with the vast majority of that money going to
Akron, Ohio-based InfoCision Management Corp. The money spent on fundraising,
according to calculations by the Center for Responsive Politics, accounted for
just over 73 percent of GOPAC’s budget.

In total, critics say GOPAC spent about $680,000 on
campaigns and contributions, or less than 9 percent of its budget.

In addition to the 527 spending, Steele for the first
time established a political action committee as well, used largely for his
travel on behalf of federal candidates. The committee contributed sparingly,
doling out just $37,750 to federal candidates through Nov. 24, along with
several thousand more to state and local candidates, according to filings with
the Federal Election Commission.

RNC members are those who “contribute from the local
races all the way up to the national level,” said one aide close to a
rival candidate. “They like to see that money well-spent. They like to see
that money given back to the candidates.”

Members could see GOPAC’s spending as either promoting
the right candidates or as wasting funds, said the rival aide. “It comes
down to how [the spending] is interpreted by RNC members,” he said. More
than one rival is preparing to make the case that Steele’s spending is a waste
of money.

GOPAC strategists are not taking the criticism lying
down, aware that their organization’s reputation goes hand in hand with that of
its chairman and his prospects for leading the party. 

“Steele is the only candidate who’s actually done
something to help push the ball down the field, more than just be someone who
talks about it as a party official,” said Avella.

The group counts wins in Washington state, Pennsylvania
and Montana among its biggest accomplishments this cycle.

“Could we do more? Absolutely. But we are getting
GOPAC revitalized to a point at which it can make a difference, and it made a
difference,” Avella said.

While other candidates like current Chairman Robert
“Mike” Duncan, South Carolina party chief Katon Dawson and Michigan
Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis can count on their long tenures on the
national committee to win votes, Steele’s appeal rests largely on his abilities
as a communicator. And while all the candidates are talking about the importance
of attracting black and other minority voters to the Republican Party, choosing
Steele, an African-American, would be a powerful symbol to show the party is
serious.

Still, his term atop GOPAC and his record as chairman of
the Maryland GOP could placate members concerned about any lack of party
management experience. Then again, should opponents succeed in casting doubt on
Steele’s time with GOPAC, the Marylander’s biggest asset could sow doubt in
members’ minds.