Did Michael Steele Cut a Deal in Vacating GOP Chair?

The latest scuttlebutt on Capitol Hill is that Michael Steele, the controversial and exiting chairman of the Republican National Committee, cut a deal with other GOP bigwigs to leave the party rather than seek a second term.

Steele was not the most popular politician in Washington, even among his own party members.

The rumor-mongers aren't saying what that deal involved but note that Steele's current annual salary is $224,500. Whether or not the deal involved Steele getting an even more lucrative job with a U.S. corporation or just settling for a whopping cash amount is still being bounced around.

Steele dropped out of the race after four ballots and threw his support to Maria Cino, a former Bush administration official who finished third in the race.  Cino was House Leader John Boehmer's preferred candidate.

Before doing that, however, street talk speculates Steele sat down with aides to both Cino and former RNC co-chairman Ann Wagner to strike a deal.

I don't for a moment believe that any such deal was struck. I believe Steele left on his own accord because he knew he was a loser from the get go, as they often say on the street.

Why?

He had no GOP-member support to begin with. Everyone knew it was going to be anyone but Steele.

If anything, his endorsement of any candidate would have been a negative, not a positive.

The winner:  Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus

And even then, it took seven voting rounds by the Republicans to get Priebus elected.

Talk about unity in the Republican Party.   There isn't any at this stage.

What do you think?

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