Steele Hits Back at His Critics

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(Honolulu, HI) – At a press conference today with reporters, Republican Chairman Michael Steele took shots at his critics and the contention that he might be weak on fundraising.

Asked if he was willing to run for a second term when his tenure expires a year from now, Steele said that he would stay “as long as the members want to have me.”

Told by a reporter that some members were expressing private criticisms of him, Steele conceded that he didn’t have the most orthodox of governing methods: “My style is not something you get used to easily. I know. The members of this committee charged me to do two things. Raise money, and win elections. On those two fronts, I think we’re doing OK.”

Chairman Steele also took a shot at the media for weaving a narrative that he thought was merely a distraction, saying: “As much as you guys find me fascinating to write about, and opine on, and theorize… at the end of the day it’s about… the grassroots and the training they need to win.”

Responding to a question about how the Democrats have more money on hand than the Republicans going into 2010, Steele said that he thought the RNC’s current financial situation is “a good spot to be in.”

Steele, sounding irritated, lectured the reporter: “I don’t know if you noticed what happened in this past year. We won two governorships, we won 26 out of 37 special elections. We bested the Democrats in six out of six months last year in fundraising.”

“We raised $81 million last year,” he continued, citing victories in New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. “We put boots on the ground in states across the country that mattered, to win. We did what we needed to do to build the infrastructure, to make the investments to win. And we won… without the White House, without the U.S. Senate, and without Congress.”