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GOP VETERAN CALLS ON STEELE TO RESIGN
(MIAMI BEACH - 1April09) - Roger Stone, controversial veteran of eight national Republican Presidential campaigns from Richard Nixon through Ronald Reagan to the Bush 2000 Presidential recount, called on Republican National Chairman Michael Steele to resign after the Republicans lost a special Congressional election in the 20th District of New York, where the GOP has a 75,000 voter registration edge.
"While saying the race was a priority, Mr. Steele provided neither the financial support nor campaign co-ordination needed for victory," said Stone. "We were outspent two-to-one," said the long-time GOP consultant who handled New York State for Ronald Reagan's 1980 and 1984 campaigns. "So much for the Republicans being the party of the rich."
Speaking on the FRED DICKER SHOW, a popular political talk show on Albany's Talk1300, Stone said Republican nominee Jim Tedisco is a strong candidate who should run again. "A week ago Tedisco would have lost by a larger margin. He actually bounced back in the race after he began ignoring advice from the national Republican committees and running his own campaign," said Stone who writes about politics, fashion and culture at STONEzone.com.
Stone also noted that, while Tedisco hammered Democrat Scott Murphy for his support for the AIG bail-out in the closing days of the campaign, the National Republican Congressional Committee was running advertising attacking Murphy for opposing the death penalty for terrorists, confusing voters with a less salient issue. "If Chairman Steele can't get one unified campaign message for all of the Republican Party's committees, he ought to resign," Stone said.
"Last month Steele tried to write both Rush Limbaugh and Arlen Specter out of the party," said Stone. "The National Chairman's job is to bring people in - not make the Republican Party smaller and narrower."
Stone also pointed out that those independent political action committees like the Republican National Trust put more money into helping Tedisco than the Republican National Committee.
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