Steele & Boehner’s Support of RINO Cino May Have Thrown RNC Race to Priebus

Meet the New Republican Party – Same as the Old Republican Party
…And No Friend of the Tea Party

RNC delegates voted for a new chairman on Friday.

Yesterday, the RNC elected Reince Priebus as its new chair.
Hotline On Call described the maneuverings on the floor that led to his victory.
Michael Steele was wheeling and dealing with the candidates before he eventually endorsed RINO Maria Cino, an Obamacare lobbyist who has donated to and supported a pro-abortion GOP group.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele dropped his bid for a second term on Friday after being offered a lucrative deal in exchange for his endorsement, sources on the committee tell The Hotline.

Steele dropped out of the race for chairman after four ballots on Friday and threw his support to Maria Cino, a former Bush administration official who finished third in the race. Steele endorsed Cino from the stage after ending his bid, a rare public announcement in a contest marked more by quiet member-to-member conversations.

That endorsement came at a cost, according to committee insiders. As candidates jockeyed for position, Steele sat down with aides to both Cino and former RNC co-chairman Ann Wagner in search of a deal. Eventually, Cino allies offered Steele a deal that would have been more lucrative than the chairman’s salary, the sources said. The RNC chairman makes $224,500 a year.

Cino herself was not involved in the conversation. At one point, Cino campaign manager Matt Schlapp spoke with Steele and promised no Cino allies would bad-mouth the outgoing chairman or stand in his way as he sought to make the move to the private sector, according to a source who was briefed on the meeting. The source said Schlapp offered no financial deals or jobs. Steele did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Steele’s endorsement of RINO Cino, and Speaker John Boehner’s support of Cino this week, left conservative Ann Wagner without the support she needed to continue her momentum in the race. Wagner dropped out a couple of rounds later.
And, Reince Priebus ended up with the victory.

As Publius at Big Government said after the vote:

Tonight, the RNC elected Reince Priebus as the next RNC Chair. As state chair in WI, Priebus managed to shrink the number of both small and major donors. (There is a reason the GOP is called the stupid party.) Donate money to the RNC at your own peril. We will have news soon about an alternative. Hold onto your checkbooks for now though. There will be a multi-pronged effort to deny donations to the RNC.

Maybe someday Speaker Boehner will explain his last minute endorsement of the RINO Maria Cino?

But until then we can assume that today’s RNC is the same as yesterday’s RNC.
Its the same Grand Old Party from yesterday… Nothing’s changed.
The battle continues.

#1 January 15, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Ginger commented:

They got no money from me for the last two years and will not for enother two years! The republican party is as corrupted as the demo-rats!

We need to stop this so called republicans mixing with the demo-rats when the kenyan fraud shoots his lieing mouth off again! Send your reps a message “Hell No”

The demo-rats are up to something!
#2 January 15, 2011 at 12:16 pm
ivehadit commented:

Hold your hats. This could be a brilliant move. As we say about the o, watch what he DOES, not what he says. We shall see. There is LOTS of kabuki theater in politics these days…quite amusing if things were not so serious.
#3 January 15, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Cargosquid commented:

They are millions in debt. Gonna be hard to fix that with no one sending them money….

I didn’t send them money last time. See no reason to change it now. Send contributions directly to those you support.
#4 January 15, 2011 at 12:23 pm
chillguy33 commented:

Thanks Jim for the excellent analysis of what went down (with a soft, steamy “plop”). A Republican party let by chickens can only lay eggs.
#5 January 15, 2011 at 12:25 pm
dunce commented:

Your voices are importent but money is importent too. Send your checks to real conservatives rather than deal makers more interested in retaining control of the party than with putting what is best for the country at the top of the list. Argueing that they need party control first only highlights their failure when they had the reins of govt. fool me once etc. The RNC was more perturbed by the money sent to tea party candidates bypassing party hacks than if you had gave to DNC. The only maverick they like is mc cain,we are supposed to stay in the herd and follow their lead
#6 January 15, 2011 at 12:30 pm
aprilnovember811 commented:

This is what the people are horrified by. The reason we ended up with John McCain in the Presidential race was because Huckabee and McCain manipulated the primary. This is why we can’t just go with who they put forward. I don’t trust anyone involved anymore. There are infiltrators in the Republican party who are socialists. Please donate only to Senate Conservatives the fund set up by Senator DeMint. He’s one of the few who are trustworthy.http://senateconservatives.com/

The fact that they would even get behind someone like that is really troubling.
#7 January 15, 2011 at 12:35 pm
donh commented:

The Steele endorsement of Cino is interesting given the blow up caused by the party’s hand picked selection of Dede Scozzafava in the NY special election. Shows me he really was a faker working the lip service on TV when talking about returning the GOP to genuine conservatism. I am glad Steel is OUT. I cannot understand the thinking of a party so determined to govern against the will of its common members . Surely they have all been bought off to sell out America. This is why Boehner cries…HE”S A GUILTY COWARD!
#8 January 15, 2011 at 12:39 pm
DINO-Mite commented:

It’s official: The wolves are in charge of the hen house at the RNC. Priebus will ensure that GOP is fractured beyond repair. When Keith Olbermann gets airtime with this group, it’s all over but the shouting.
#9 January 15, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Liz commented:

Constitutional Conservatives should start our own party.
#10 January 15, 2011 at 12:42 pm
RedCarolina commented:

Thanks April! Great link! Great strategy. We HAVE to continue the fight to rid both houses of RINO’s.
#11 January 15, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Liz commented:

And Ann Wagner can be our chairman. It’s better than this. I would have preferred Steele.
#12 January 15, 2011 at 12:46 pm
memomachine commented:

Hmmmm.

RNC calling … set ignore = on
#13 January 15, 2011 at 12:48 pm
sifty commented:

We fired those jerks, we can fire these jerks. The Tea Party message is obviously not reaching past the walls around the country club.

But it will.

Not one penny to the RNC.

Let them sell their $5000 suits and use that money.
#14 January 15, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Valerie commented:

OT: Jim, this is important.

Feds threaten to sue states over union laws (the ones that require a secret ballot)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110114/ap_on_re_us/us_unions_secret_ballots
#15 January 15, 2011 at 1:19 pm
StevefromMKE commented:

Excuse me, but before you and Dan Riehl vomit all over this, Priebus was one the primary movers in the Wisconsin GOP that brought not only the Governorship, the State Legislature and the majority of the Representatives to Washington, he also presided over Russ Feingold being ousted. Why? Because he recognized the Tea party power in Wisconsin. Ron Johnson, who defeated Feingold, came from the Tea party. And a lot of otherwise ordinary candidates won in Wisconsin.

Get a knee brace before they jerk out of place and even see what happens….
#16 January 15, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Rachelle commented:

The RNC called for a donation the other day. I told them to forget it. I donate only to individual candidates. I don’t like or trust the RNC–RINO clique.
#17 January 15, 2011 at 1:27 pm
tarpon commented:

If 2010 proved anything, it showed when you donate direct to the candidate of your choice it works out best. Especially if you donate time to the candidate. Why would anything be different in 2012?
#18 January 15, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Deekaman commented:

ARE ANY OF YOU PAYING ATTENTION!?!?!?!? Priebus is the best thing to happen to the GOP since Atwater. Who were you looking for? Sarah Palin? The Second Coming of Ronaldus? Priebus was able to take one of the most “Progressive” states in the country and engineer a takeover by TEA Party-Backed Conservatives. Support Priebus and the GOP. Hold their feet to the fire. To do otherwise is to cede the next generation to the Progs and Socialists. November wasn’t the end, it was the beginning. We still have the Olympia Snowes and Susan Collins’ of the GOP that need to go. Priebus can make that happen. He will listen. Kill him now and we are screwed. Only YOU can “F” this one up. I’ll stop by to thank you for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
#19 January 15, 2011 at 2:05 pm
exceller commented:

I’m supporting the tea party and candidates of my chosing. The RNC is part of the problem.
#20 January 15, 2011 at 2:16 pm
jimg commented:

For the love of gawd. You guys are making way – WAY – too big of a deal over this.

Give.
Your.
Money.
Directly.
To.
The.
Candidates.

Period.
#21 January 15, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Zim commented:

Yes listen to Deekaman. Priebus was the head of the WI GOP that did a total state change to republican leadership. In Wisconsin a very liberal state!!! Give the guy a chance.
#22 January 15, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Swifty commented:

We saw it coming: ‘A Statement of New Patriots,’ 1993: http://frankwarner.typepad.com/free_frank_warner/2011/01/we-saw-it-coming-a-statement-of-new-patriots-1993.html
#23 January 15, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Floyd Looney commented:

I am not surprised by anything any longer. I think we all know that whomever “heads” the RNC, it doesn’t change anything.
#24 January 15, 2011 at 3:05 pm
sifty commented:

Golly, if we could just get the liberals to like us and invite us to the cool parties everything would be grand!

The conservative movement needs leaders who have had dirt under their fingernails and a shovel in their hand in their adult lives.

I’ll give this one six months like I did Steele. If it doesn’t work, we’ll get a new one.
#25 January 15, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Deekaman commented:

@sifty: I think 6 months is plenty. If he doesn’t produce, I will also be calling for his head.
#26 January 15, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Dodd commented:

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/8833/rncmotiv.jpg
#27 January 15, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Iconoclast commented:

Much as I would have preferred Ann Wagner, I’m willing to give Priebus a chance based on his results in WI. Doesn’t mean I will send any $ to the RNC before I see who they recruit for 2012 candidates and how they allocate resources. If they send RINOs big checks in advance of their primaries (think orange Charlie & Arlen of the magic bullet), I will continue to donate directly to candidates whom *I* find attractive. Olympia Snowe is not in that category, BTW.
#28 January 15, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Pegasus66 commented:

Follow Jim Demint’s lead – - he knows what he is doing and has his conservative PAC. Somehow, we do need to decide upon a presidental candidate of OUR choice this time; therefore, we must have a national party. Otherwise, the state parties can run the show. This sort of goes along with the move toward the 10th Amendment and states rights.

I will say that in our battle to oust John Spratt here in SC, the help we got for Mick Mulvaney from the RNC made a big difference. They made it possible to have state-of-the-art phone bank equipment and we made exceptionally good use of it.

In the right hands, RNC can tip the difference in carefully chosen races.
#29 January 15, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Fred commented:

Reince is a solid conservative and I’ve watched him work his ass off for the party in Wisconsin. Remember Wisconsin had the most successful left to right change in the country and all under Pribus’ leadership.

He is a TEA party friend and will provide great leadership on a national level. Give the man a chance before you convince yourselves of his failure.
#30 January 15, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Mitch Rapp commented:

RNC were they the ones that told us McCain was good?

WOW, were we bamboozled

and then Arizona reelected him something is funny
#31 January 15, 2011 at 6:11 pm
avery commented:

We have it set up that the Repubican could win for the nexth 10 years,with all the new gov. that we have,if they don”t shoots their foots off.
#32 January 15, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Sasja commented:

They are still not getting any of my meager funds. Will continue to donate to individuals.
#33 January 15, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Militant Conservative commented:

Doan’t care about WHO heads an irrellivant party head. WE ARE THE POWER.
THAT is what the left AND right do not want you to find out. Especially with the internet as a source of funding and intelligence. WE the people have the tools at our disposal to rid ourselves of poor leadership in either party. Stay the course and press on this is gonna take a few election cycles to clean up the HUGE mess both RINO’s and Democrats have caused. All the while staying ever vigilant of your own party and whom the party with.

Get more involved with the system and bring more to the TPM. This is totally our fault for being asleep at the switch. Now it is time to break it off in the spoiled children in Washington. powder is dry.
#34 January 15, 2011 at 7:50 pm
bigL commented:

Go out of business,Gop squishes. No money from me.Ever.
#35 January 15, 2011 at 8:13 pm
njoriole commented:

And remember, this is the same tone-deaf moron who said in a conference call that Obama “should be executed.” Three times he said it! Don’t you think the left will have a field day with that against our candidates in 2012? And what defense will we have for that? A slip of the tongue? An unfortunate expression? The RNC voters knew about it, and apparently didn’t care. Still stuck on stupid. If we don’t turn this around, and if Obama gets a second term, a true Tea Party may be the only logical alternative. After all, we survived the loss of the Whigs; maybe th Republicans’ time has finally come.
#36 January 16, 2011 at 6:28 am
Ed Wallis commented:

This article is long on jammering about Cino-as-RINO, and UTTERLY VOID of what its title purports to be about: and indictment of Priebus with evidence as to why he is a RINO. None being here, I must question the message and motives of the author.
#37 January 16, 2011 at 6:35 am
Ed Wallis commented:

More info about Priebus, less about RINOs:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41216
#38 January 16, 2011 at 7:47 am
Earl P. Holt III commented:

If you want bang for your buck, contribute to conservative candidates, directly.

I don’t ever want one dime of my money going to Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, (or in the past) that slimy, perfidious and treacherous scum-ball, Arlen Spector.