Steele to hit road for RNC meetings

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele will hit the road over the next two months as part of his effort to reform the national party, he announced in a letter to committee members Wednesday.

Steele will meet with representatives from GOP state parties in New York City, Miami, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco in April and May to host what he is calling regional roundtables, part of the new chairman’s effort to bring the national party and state parties into closer alignment.

States have been asked to prepare a 15-minute presentation on their best practices and ideas from the 2008 cycle. Steele will also host coffee roundtables during his trips, according to a memo sent to state parties Wednesday.

The trips will also serve to answer questions members may have about the comprehensive review of the national committee, a process which has at times been bumpy.

Shortly after taking over the RNC in late January, Steele asked most staffers for letters of resignation, with the promise that some could soon be hired back. Few, so far, have returned to their old jobs, and many top staff positions remain unfilled, a situation that worries some members of the committee.

Even the new hires have not been completely successful. Steele’s team forced newly-hired finance director Tim Crawford to resign after just two weeks on the job, according to published reports. Insiders tell The Hill Crawford overstepped his authority in signing contracts.

Overall, most members willing to speak publicly say Steele’s first month atop the RNC has been a success, though some point to gaffes and flubs that have made news.

Steele told a Fox News host in February that there was “absolutely no reason” to trust Republicans’ word, and later suggested he would be open to withholding money from centrist senators based on their votes, a statement he later had to walk back when confronted by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

This week, Steele denied radio host Rush Limbaugh was the head of the Republican Party, later having to apologize to Limbaugh for his comments.

–Reid Wilson