Republican Woes
Republicans in America are hoping to seize control of the House and Senate in the mid-term elections this year, and they are going to have a difficult time of it, not least because of the latest issues to arise out of political impropriety. Michael Steele, the Republican Party’s chairman, recently was found to have visited a bondage and S&M club on the money of the Republican National Committee. This money had been donated to the Republican Party for the sake of these upcoming elections, and was instead “repurposed” by Michael Steele for his own amusements.
This was a doubly harsh blow to the Republicans, as not only did it bring scandal and dishonor to the party and its chairman, but it also highlighted financial issues that the Republican party is facing this year. The Republican Party has significantly fallen behind the Democratic Party in terms of raising money for the mid-term elections, and when it turns out that Steele has spent nearly $2000 of the money which the Republican Party so sorely needs for the elections on strippers, it only makes the problem all the more acute.
The Republican Party espouses fiscal conservatism, technically, and the fact that its chairman exhibited such unethical exorbitant spending patterns casts a tremendous amount of doubt on the party as a whole, much to the Republicans’ chagrin. There have also been further numbers which seem to discredit the Republicans’ conservative economic policies, including the fact that they spent $43,828 for a trip to Hawaii for the Republican Party’s mid-winter convention. Michael Steele had even previously “raised the issue of buying a private jet for his travels” (taken from www.theage.com.au).
The Republican Party’s rather questionable spending practices do not bode well for the party as a whole. Indeed, in terms of Michael Steele, the only possible course of action to salvage the situation for the Republicans would seem to be to throw him out into the cold. The Republican Party likely cannot afford to defend Steele in any significant fashion, for doing so would only cause them greater trouble with public perception, and would likely cost them even more money which they need for the upcoming elections. Beyond Steele in particular, however, these events indicate a rather troubling trend for the Republicans, and indeed, American politicians in general. The misuse of power and governmental funds for private entertainment has always plagued politics, but the most flagrant abuses are generally found out and dealt with. The real problem arises from the more subtle abuses, the kind which can remain unknown to most of the voters. For instance, out of those spending sprees that have been mentioned above, it is perhaps the tremendous amount of money spent on having the convention in Hawaii that is much more insidious than Steele’s spending. Obviously, Steele was wrong to spend as he did; the flagrant nature of his spending, however, is what made it likely he would be caught, and now he will likely suffer for what he has done. But spending so much money on the convention in Hawaii isn’t as clearly wrong, isn’t as clearly a misuse of power and funds. As a result, it’s much more likely to either go unnoticed, or be forgiven, such that the same misuse can be committed again, and again, and again. For all that Steele’s actions are clearly wrong and deserve to be known and dealt with, we cannot afford to overlook the “misdemeanors” of power misuse either, not among the Republicans, and not among the Democrats.
