RNC having problems with donors now . . .

[bpwallace49]

'Bondage-gate' spurs donor drain for RNC

 

Thu Apr 1, 9:51 pm ET

It's not bad enough that, for some time forward, the words "Republican National Committee" will be the most frequent phrase surfacing in online search terms using the words "West Hollywood bondage club." Now leaders of the RNC have to contend with the defection of key constituencies from the committee's donor base.

 

The RNC had hoped that the fallout from the scandal known as "bondage-gate" would blow over when it fired Allison Meyers, the staffer who put in for reimbursed expenses for a January outing at the Voyeur sex club. Meyers had been entertaining members of the RNC's Young Eagles—i.e., conservative donors under the age of 45. Her dismissal came a day after the Daily Caller, a conservative website, published an expose of questionable RNC expenditures.

 

But that personnel move still hasn't quelled criticism in conservative movement circles. The latest blow to RNC morale: Tony Perkins—the head of the influential Family Research Council—has called on supporters to stop giving money to the RNC in the wake of the scandal.

 

"This latest incident is another indication to me that the RNC is completely tone-deaf to the values and concerns of a large number of people from whom they seek financial support," he wrote on the group's website. "I've hinted at this before, but now I am saying it—don't give money to the RNC. If you want to put money into the political process, and I encourage you to do so, give directly to candidates who you know reflect your values."

 

Disgust over the scandal has even spread to conservative political consultants, who aren't generally prone to moral indignation. In an interview with Yahoo! News, Floyd Brown-a longtime GOP fundraiser and consultant—explained that the scandal points up the insularity of the Republican party's national leaders.

 

"The Republican party itself is a big part of the problem," said Brown, who now operates a website called ExposeObama.com. "It's controlled by Washington DC-based operatives that are out of touch with normal people. It's an establishment-led party."

 

Brown—best known for his role in helping to craft the infamous Willie Horton ad that proved instrumental in George H.W. Bush's defeat of Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis in 1988—noted that "a lot of big donors have just stopped giving, as I have also stopped giving to the RNC." (Indeed, in a follow-up report earlier this week, the Daily Caller took note of this very trend.) Brown now contributes on a candidate-by-candidate basis, he says. "When you send money to DC, you're sending money directly to the same rat hole that created the problem in the first place."

 

In an effort to stop the bleeding, the RNC mounted its own PR counteroffensive: Its communications director, Doug Heye, leaked information about the Democratic National Committee's fundraising expenditures. But when those outlays turned out to be for gatherings at high-end hotels in Las Vegas, Miami, and Beverly Hills—with nothing as damning as a topless bondage floor show—the leaked documents failed to generate any outrage. Indeed, the Democrats, more than happy to keep the story circulating, asked for more. "If Republicans want to compare our spending to their spending and allow us to say 'Michael Steele approved spending money at a Hollywood sex club' a few more times—that's fine with us," DNC spokesman Hari Sevugen said in a statement released to reporters.

 

Meanwhile, the RNC has also pulled the plug on most pending Young Eagles events, including a controversial gathering at the training center of the government contractor formerly known as Blackwater. And it seems like the RNC's sex-themed trials are not going to let up anytime soon: Politico writer Ben Smith has reported today that an RNC mailer mimicking the format of a census form mistakenly included a phone number that redirects callers to a service providing phone sex conversations with "real local students, housewives and working girls from all over the country" for $2.99 a minute

[Ursa Majoris]

And it seems like the RNC's sex-themed trials are not going to let up anytime soon: Politico writer Ben Smith has reported today that an RNC mailer mimicking the format of a census form mistakenly included a phone number that redirects callers to a service providing phone sex conversations with "real local students, housewives and working girls from all over the country" for $2.99 a minute

 

[bpwallace49]

 

And it seems like the RNC's sex-themed trials are not going to let up anytime soon: Politico writer Ben Smith has reported today that an RNC mailer mimicking the format of a census form mistakenly included a phone number that redirects callers to a service providing phone sex conversations with "real local students, housewives and working girls from all over the country" for $2.99 a minute

 

I loved that part too . . . it is tough to generate funds from a fundamentalist base like the RNC when shenanigans like this are going on . . .