Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has been called a lot of names. Here's another one for him: cheater.
It's not surprising Steele and the Republicans are embarrassed about their party. But Steele has hit a new low (insert Munch's "Scream" here): He's set up an RNC fundraising page on Facebook made to look like it's the United Steelworkers union.
The "United STEELE Workers Union" page even features a hard hat with an American flag sticker front and center.
Just curious, Michael: Doesn't a white hard hat clash with your designer suits?
Steele's rip-off is another blatant and egregious attempt to align the party of NO ideas and NO appeal with progressive and forward-looking groups, in this case, the union movement—because the party can't get anywhere on its own. And with a pathetic 21 percent of the public willing to identify themselves as Republican and four in 10 of those Republicans having an unfavorable opinion of their own party, it's looking worse than ever for the Party of NO.
Even before the current GOP disaster, Steele campaigned in the same sleazy, misleading way, distributing "Steele Democrat" yard signs in his 2008 run for Senate to make it appear he really wasn't aligned with the Party of Bush/Cheney. His campaigns in Maryland have included handing out fliers with inaccurate voting information distributed by homeless people he bused in from Pennsylvania.
Steele posing as a member of the United Steelworkers is an insult to the 1.2 million active and retired members of the Steelworkers whose proud history of taking a stand for workers emerged in the hard-boiled 1930's struggles for union recognition as part of the CIO's industry-wide organizing strategy.
Yet here's what the False STEELE workers' page proclaims as its goals:
This group is dedicated to help the new RNC Chairman Michael Steele get the GOP moving for the 2010, 2012 elections and beyond.
We will be a grassroots force ready to answer the call from Mr. Steele.
We will organize.
We will campaign.
We will fight to win our country back.
Organize? Campaign? Grassroots? More rip-offs of the union movement.
Here's the real—and extremely partial—list of Michael Steele's RNC goals:
This is a cross-post from the Firedoglake blog.