Michael Steele

Michael Steele Faces Off Against The Daily Show's Puppet Michael Steele (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | February 2, 2011, 10:38AM

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appeared on the Daily Show last night -- both of him!

"Wait a minute," Jon Stewart said at the start of the interview. "You're not Michael Steele."

"What?" Steele responded.

"We've had Michael Steele on the show, like, five times," said Stewart. "I don't -- you look -- you're not him."

"Jon, Jon, I can assure you -- I'm Michael Steele."

"I have to tell you," Stewart began -- only to be interrupted by the blue Sesame Street puppet that the Daily Show used during Steele's tenure at the RNC, voiced by a rhyming, jive-talking Wyatt Cenac.

"Yeah sorry I'm late, Watergate," said Puppet Michael Steele. "Who's this extremely handsome gentleman?"

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RNC

Priebus: RNC's True Finances Even Worse Than Our FEC Report Says

Eric Kleefeld | February 1, 2011, 1:06PM

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus

Newly-elected Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is putting all the bad news right out there. With the RNC releasing a year-end federal report showing over $21 million in debt, he simultaneously put out a statement saying that fully-adjusted numbers would ultimately show that it's even worse -- that is, he has an even bigger hole to dig out of.

"While the year-end FEC report reveals the Republican National Committee is $21 million in debt, I believe it is best to get out all the facts as we know them associated with our financial position," Priebus said in a statement. "To date, the committee has approximately $23 million in debt: $15 million in loans, and $8 million owed to vendors."

Priebus also implicitly put the blame on his predecessor as chairman, Michael Steele, who he defeated this past January. In the statement, Priebus says that prior fundraising operations were very inefficient:

"The RNC transition team is committed to improving the committee's financial situation in two areas: lowering costs of raising small donations and restoring the trust of major donors in the Republican Party. The RNC did raise nearly $105 million in 2010 mainly through low-dollar solicitations online and in the mail, but the costs to raise it were simply too high at approximately 64 cents for every dollar raised. Even more troubling, our major donor programs are at 10-year lows.

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