LITTLE ROCK — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele had nearly finished a 20-minute exhortation of the faithful at the party’s state headquarters in Little Rock Thursday night when he was asked why establishment Republicans weren’t supporting Tea Party insurgent candidates such as Christine O’Donnell, recent winner of the GOP Senate primary in Delaware.
The party is firmly behind O’Donnell and “full-square” behind another Tea Party supported Republican Senate primary winner, Joe Miller of Alaska, Steele said.
“Let’s fight after we win,” Steele told the crowd of about 100 otherwise enthusiastic supporters.
Steele arrived in a red tour bus emblazoned with the call to “Fire Pelosi” after earlier stops Thursday in Jackson, Tenn., and Southaven, Miss. The bus is expected to visit 48 states in the next five weeks.
Steele touted Arkansas Republican candidates, including Rogers Mayor Steve Womack, who is running against Democrat David Whitaker of Fayetteville in the 3rd Congressional District.
Womack sounded a theme echoed by Steele: Republicans, after some tough years, have revived their political fortunes.
“We had the wind in our face for the last couple of years, and now the wind is at our backs,” Womack said.
Womack was the only Republican seeking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to attend the event. 1st District candidate Rick Crawford, 2nd District candidate Tim Griffin and 4th District candidate Beth Anne Rankin all had scheduling conflicts, said state party spokesman Alice Stewart.
Steele dismissed a report in The New York Times earlier this week that suggested that the Republican National Committee’s shortfall in available cash during the campaign’s final weeks may hinder the final push to the Nov. 2 election.
Such an analysis misses the party’s earlier efforts to lay organizational groundwork, he said.
“You can go old-school if you want,” Steele said, mocking Democrats for stockpiling money and “bragging” about it. “We spent money, not two weeks ago, but 10 months ago.”
State GOP Chairman Doyle Webb said the party has nine phone banks around the state which volunteers have been manning since May.
Arkansas Democrats greeted Steele’s arrival by referring to complaints that the national party under Steele’s leadership has spent too lavishly.
“It is not surprising that Michael Steele is visiting the Natural State to drum up support for the Republican ticket. They have so much in common: fiscal recklessness, financial irresponsibility, flagrant ethical lapses, and support for plans to burden the middle class and cripple Social Security,” a Democratic Party news release stated.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 09/24/2010