Michael Steele Heads To Guam To Help Island's GOP Candidates

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Steele is traveling to Guam in September to help raise money for the island's top GOP candidates.

In a statement published by the Pacific News Center, Guam Gov. Felix Camacho (R) announces that Steele will be providing the keynote speech for "the September 7th Republican Party fundraiser benefiting the Republican nominees for the Governor of Guahan and Senators of the Guam Legislature. Additionally, the Chairman will be the honored guest at a luncheon fundraiser on September 8th benefiting the Republican Party of Guahan."

On Aug. 27, the Saipan Tribune also reported that Steele would be going to Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), to endorse former governor Juan N. Babauta as the islands' representative to the U.S. Congress, making him the first RNC chair to ever visit the CNMI.

In February, two RNC staffers, State and Local Development Director Shannon Reeves and Director of Political Strategies for New Media George Alafoginis, were also in Guam. RNC Communications Director said their trip was "part of party building activities the committee undertakes everyday to ensure the Republican Party is competitive in every state and territory."

In January, National Journal reported that the RNC had transferred $20,000 to CNMI over a two-month period. Many critics wondered whether the funds were the RNC's political payback for helping Steele become chairman. Steele received heavy support from the U.S. territories -- CNMI, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam -- who hold outsized influenced in the RNC elections. Under GOP rules, each territory receives the same number of committee members as each U.S. state.

Camacho is term-limited and cannot run for re-election. In his statement, he said that he is "confident that Chairman Steele's visit will help the Republican Party secure the necessary resources we need to regain control of the Governor's office as well as a majority in the Guam Legislature. As part of Chairman Steele's mission to reinvigorate the Republican Party as well as attracting new voters, his visit to our island demonstrates that the Guamanian voters in the continental U.S. are an important part of this mission."

Update:

RNC Communications Director Doug Heye confirmed Steele's trip in a statement to the Huffington Post: "Chairman Steele will be traveling to two territories and some western states to help raise money for candidates and local parties." He did not respond to our inquiry as to how much the trip would cost.

Comments

[LittleMittens]

11:48 AM on 08/31/2010

Less cameras at the strip clubs, and younger lap dancers...

[neverbeenfooled]

10:51 AM on 08/31/2010

He's probably renewing GOP support for institutionalized slave labor in the Northern Marianas.

[moose and squirrel]

08:50 AM on 08/31/2010

lots of ocean between guam and the mainland, mikey.  better
check the engines, make sure no one loosened up any bolts.....

dont they have a bunch of sweatshops in guam?

[Dan1902]

07:30 AM on 08/31/2010

How much fundraising could he do in a US commonwealth that gave Obama it's delegates with something like 80% of the vote in the Dem Primary!!?? I think it's to keep him out of sight out of mind!!

[cutesky]

01:47 AM on 08/31/2010

they must have bought him a one way ticket.

[Scentedflower]

11:38 PM on 08/30/2010

They sent him away to keep his mouth guarded.

[evangelicalchimp]

09:15 PM on 08/30/2010

Yo Mikey.......Guam is wonderful......stay there........maybe you can run for President!

[faith]

11:11 PM on 08/30/2010

You absolutely make me laugh out loud with that comment that Guam is wonderful ! Truly, truly an insider's joke ! Gives me the chills just thinking about ever having to go back there. LOL.

[ManassasMan]

08:20 PM on 08/30/2010

There's NOTHING that the Republican Party needs in Guam ! This shows that they are completely bonkers... Michael Steele is just taking, under blatantly false pretenses, a first-class flight to a South Pacific Island, where he'll be put up at an equally first-class hotel, and be wined and dined as royalty. The man is a complete fraud, and his party, if they have any brains, should dump him. Actually, I hope they don't, for he continues to serve as an embarrassment to them..

[wooper]

07:08 PM on 08/30/2010

He better check his tickets...it may be only one way.

[Takebackourmoney]

06:59 PM on 08/30/2010

Although Guam is a US territory, it barely get any US tourist. Most of its visitors are Japanese, Fillippino, east asian. It does get a lot of federal dollars and military spending. So, why is Steele going there. There votes don;t count but they have lot of influence on the Presidential race.

[James Moore]

06:47 PM on 08/30/2010

MICHAEL STEELE TO GUAM???-DON'T GUAM HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE?????

[ThatBKChick]

06:31 PM on 08/30/2010

SMDH...Is this the only place where people will listen to him? No one State Side is listening Michael...((((BLAH-BLAH-BLAH)))) Not even your own party is listening....(((((WE CANNOT HEAR YOU MICHAEL))).....AH HA....Maybe someone in Guam will hear you? Far away from your base!

[oldgeek1]

06:29 PM on 08/30/2010

Cooler weather than DC with great beaches with the GOP picking up the tab.

[SPacific]

06:13 PM on 08/30/2010

The GOP probably paid to get this embarrassment to leave the country...All expenses paid!! As in: Run it up, and stay away!!

[TYRANNASAURUS]

06:13 PM on 08/30/2010

What The RNC Chairman Is Doing In The Middle Of The Pacific .. GOP Won't Talk Trip Cost......AND WHY WOULD THEY SEND HIM THERE....GUAM DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHEN IT COMES TO VOTING........COULD IT BE THAT THEY'VE EXILED MR. CHAIRMAN?