On Michael Steele and Speaking Fees

By Bill Pascoe
CQ
December 22, 2009

"How much did that interview cost someone?"

So asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs this morning, in response to a reporter's question asking for comment on Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's charge Monday that Democrats are "flipping the bird" to the American people by pushing through health care overhaul the way they have.

Gibbs' riposte laid to rest any doubts that Ralph Hallow's front page Washington Times blockbuster -- revealing that Steele has been regularly accepting speaking fees of up to $20,000 for speeches given while he's serving as RNC chairman -- would be overlooked in the crush of Christmas week reporting on the politics of health care overhaul by journalists as desperate as senators to leave town and get home for the holiday.

And it shows how devastating such behavior can be to a party chairman's credibility as a message-carrier. Any time you do something that allows your political opponents to score points off you while at the same time dodging a question, you've done something wrong.

(More here.)