Blow #1 - The RNC is $20 million in debt heading into the new campaign cycle; a historic lake of red ink:
The unreleased official budget of the RNC reveals that the Republican Party's national governing body and premier fundraising apparatus begins the 2011-12 presidential election cycle more than $20 million in the hole.
"A record for any year in the past 30 years," Maria Cino, a candidate for the RNC chairmanship and a former deputy transportation secretary, told The Washington Times.
The budget was approved by RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele's Budget Committee.
The document also reveals that the RNC will enter the 2012 presidential election year at least $10 million in arrears. "That is also unheard of in 30 years for a presidential year — or for that matter, any congressional election year," Ms. Cino said.
As the Washington Times story makes clear, Cino is gunning for Steele's job, so it behooves her to paint as bleak a picture of the status quo as possible, but the numbers do speak for themselves. It seems committee members are taking notice, which brings us to blow #2:
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele faces an all-but-impossible path to reelection this month, as a majority of the RNC’s 168 members indicate that they will not support the controversial chairman for another term.
A weeklong canvass of the party’s governing board by POLITICO revealed 88 members who have decided not to vote for Steele, either opting to support one of his opponents or simply ruling out Steele as a choice in the race.
Fifty-five members, some of whom have endorsed one of Steele’s challengers, have signaled that they will not support the chairman under any circumstances. An additional 33 pledged their support elsewhere.
1. Fundraising chops
Simply put, the RNC's financial requirements are so vast -- and weak fundraising has proved to have such negative effects on the RNC's ability to carry out its operations -- that committee members will treat solid fundraising chops as a litmus test applicable to all candidates for the job of chairman.
Raising major league cash is seen as a vulnerability for Steele, as depicted in the following chart, which I've cited before:
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