Joe Ricketts, founder of the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade, is the billionaire behind this latest attack. The Obama-Biden campaign address the proposal in emails sent out to supports, claiming that it shows in “vivid and gruesome detail what the President and all of us are up against.”

Unsurprisingly, they plan to paint the president as “slick” and “cocky,” which amount to nothing more than an update of the “celebrity” and elitist” jargon of  ’08. And because people “still aren’t ready to hate this president” they need a token, an “extremely literate conservative African-American” so Africans-Americans don’t think they’re racists.

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Anyone remember Michael Steele and his Hip-Hopping debacle as chairman of the Republican National Committee? How did that work out for you, Republican strategists?

According to the campaign literature, we should expect to see images of the POTUS juxtaposed with Pastor Jeremiah Wright, the September 11th attacks (they forget that was on Bush 43′s watch) and other hot button imagery to remind us that Obama is out to “destroy America.”

The proposal was presented last week in Chicago to associates and family members of Mr. Ricketts, who is also the patriarch of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs, reports the Times.

“Joe Ricketts is prepared to spend significant resources in the 2012 election in both the presidential race and Congressional races,” said Brian Baker, president and general counsel of a super PAC called the Ending Spending Action Fund. “He is very concerned about the future direction of the country and plans to take a stand.”

There are three things that it might behoove the GOP ‘Super PAC’ and Republican “strategists” to remember:

1.) African-Americans are not a monolith. Those who support the president have their reasons, as do those who oppose him. Bringing up trivial, insulting language with the primary purpose of race-baiting is going to back-fire. Hard.

2.) Nothing you say or do is going to make President Obama look worse than Mitt Romney. Maybe you should spend your time in that corner teaching him how to remember what exactly it is that he stands for.

3.) You’re attacking a president who allegedly raked in over $1,000,000 within 90 minutes of his announcement that he supports marriage equality and $15,000,000 the next evening at a fundraiser at the home of Hollywood superstar, George Clooney. Bottom line: You need more people.

Oh, and President Abe Lincoln was Black — so there is no need to add the racial qualifier before his name.

As usual, I have to wonder if these “strategists” are actually undercover Democrats, because nothing that the Obama campaign could do would make them look more foolish than they already do.

SEE ALSO:

Obama’s Patronizing Visit To ‘The View’

10 Tips For Black Men Pulled Over By Police

Steele got a standing ovation after his announcement following a rocky two-year tenure that saw Republicans notch huge victories last fall.

After four rounds of voting, Reince Priebus (Ryns Pree’-bus) was leading. Cino, Ann Wagner and Saul Anuzis also were competing.

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Opposition To Michael Steele Mounts, Race Rearing Ugly Head

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Ken Mehlman, who headed the Republican National Committee between 2005 and 2007, has come out in an interview with the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder:

Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview. He agreed to answer a reporter’s questions, he said, because, now in private life, he wants to become an advocate for gay marriage and anticipated that questions would be asked about his participation in a late-September fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California’s ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition 8.

“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” Mehlman said. “Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”

Read more at Huffpo

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Michael Steele has failed miserably to do the things you’re supposed to do: raise money, basically go out and articulate a message

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RNC Treasurer Blames Michael Steele for Concealing $7 Million Debt

OPINION: Steele Is Trapped Behind Bad Timing & A Big Mouth

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From CNN.com:

Conservative activist and blogger Andrew Breitbart will headline a fundraiser this August hosted by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele in Beverly Hills.

A Republican National Committee spokesperson confirmed to CNN a report in Talking Points Memo, which also published a copy of the event invitation.

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From TheGrio.com:

By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

Once again RNC Chairman Michael Steele has taken his rhetoric a bit too far. Last Thursday while speaking at a Republican fundraiser Steele said he found the dismissal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal “comical.” Steele went on to say “Keep in mind … this was a war of Obama’s choosing, ….This was not something that the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in … the one thing you don’t do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan …Everyone who has tried over a thousand years of history has failed, …”

As a result of these comments Chairman Steele has come under heavy fire from within the Republican Party. Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol among others has called for Steele’s resignation. “I ask you to consider, over this July 4 weekend, doing an act of service for the country you love: Resign as chairman of the Republican Party.” Sometimes, as with Steele, the problem is the messenger and the message.

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RELATED:

Amiri Baraka Calls Michael Steele A “Real Public Coon” At Black Writers Conference

Steele: Afghanistan Is “War Of Obama’s Choosing”

GOP Chairman Michael Steele: “I’ve Made Mistakes”

From WashingtonIndependent.com:

Well, this isn’t going to soothe the GOP’s internal critics of Michael Steele, who worry that his celebrity distracts him from the party’s message. He stars in a new 60-second ad — he’s onscreen for 30 second of it, and narrates the rest — telling viewers to visit a new RNC website. (Hat tip: Peter Hamby.)

This is all ahead of Steele visiting cities in Florida, Oklahoma and North Carolina; TPM reports that the DNC will run ads ripping the RNC “fear” presentation in those cities.

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Obama Haters

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WATCH the ad here:

RELATED:

Michael Steele Names His Blog “What Up”

Michael Steele Interview Appears On Daily Show

Politico has found an RNC document that outlines the Republican strategy to raise money. They clearly want to continue the fearmongering and race bating ways to paint Obama as evil and socialist. They even went as far as use the Obama “Joker” Image. Here’s what they wrote.

The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on “fear” of President Barack Obama and a promise to “save the country from trending toward socialism.”

The strategy was detailed in a confidential party fundraising presentation, obtained by POLITICO, which also outlines how “ego-driven” wealthy donors can be tapped with offers of access and “tchochkes.”

Manipulating donors with crude caricatures and playing on their fears is hardly unique to Republicans or to the RNC – Democrats raised millions off George W. Bush in similar terms – but rarely is it practiced in such cartoonish terms.

One page, headed “The Evil Empire,” pictures Obama as the Joker from Batman, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid are depicted as Cruella DeVille and Scooby Doo, respectively.

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From HuffingtonPost.com:

RNC Chairman and designated GOP sparkplug Michael Steele finds himself the center of attention once again this week — this time for an interview published in February’s issue of Washingtonian magazine in which he charges his critics with racism.

Near the end of the story, called “Up In The Air” by Paul West, Steele implies that he and the RNC face more scrutiny because he is black:

Steele acknowledges that at times he has a tendency to take things too far. “And I get checked on that, just as when I was a young boy and I pushed the envelope too far and my Mama was there to check me.”But there’s an edge to his voice when he talks about a double standard that he believes has been applied by his critics, and he posits racism as the cause: “I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation. Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”

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Steele Says GOP “Screwed Up”

Open Letter To Michael Steele: Drop The Slang And Stand Up To Racism

From TheHill.com:

House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) took a shot at Republican Party chairman Michael Steele Thursday for holding a GOP retreat in Hawaii.

Cantor, who has differed with Steele over Republican chances to retake the House in 2010, indicated he wasn’t crazy about the idea of RNC members relaxing on Hawaiian beaches when asked whether it was the right kind of image for the party to project.
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“Chairman Steele has a role to play in these elections,” Cantor began. “Obviously, I have said that I disagree with his statement that we can’t take back the House. So, do I want voters to think that Republicans do nothing but go to beach resorts in January? No.”

The Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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RELATED:

Michael Steele Says GOP “Screwed Up”

Gingrich Says Republicans Are Nervous Around Steele

From Gawker.com:

Comical RNC chairman/urban-suburban hiphop settings expert Michael Steele has been called into an emergency meeting! It seems that Republican congressional leaders had no idea he was releasing a book until they saw their party head promoting it on cable news.

So. Steele keeps saying dumb shit on the TV, and there was a little mini-scandal wherein he was accepting money for speaking engagements (something previous chairmen have apparently not done). And now this book. “He’s freelancing,” a Republican aide told the Washington Post.
Naughty or Nice 2009

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Aides from GOP congressional offices apparently blew up at RNC officials during today’s morning strategy conference call. They were mad that Steele was ruining the GOP message during a bad week for Democrats.

Steele has a thankless job, organizing a Republican party that can’t decide if it wants to be about war and torture, serious opposition, or hysterical white populism (j/k, they decided to be about the last thing). But he’s also done a fairly shit job, and it was recently revealed that the organization is completely broke. Combine this with how fun and easy it is to mock his various insane interview statements—seriously, he is embarrassing himself on TV multiple times a day now—and you have the makings of a classic ouster.

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RELATED:

TWiB: Keepin’ It Steele, Son!

GOP Source: “Steele Is Setting Us Far Back With His Comments”

Dear Michael Steele,

You are in between a rock in a hard place. You seem to talk one way to Black people and another to your Republican colleagues. Do you really think white Republicans are scared of you? It seems like you are more scared of white Republicans. When you called Rush Limbaugh an ugly, incendiary voice, you apologized promptly. So while the GOP might not be scared of you, you are definitely scared of Rush Limbaugh.

It seems to me that both white Republicans and the African American community seem to view you as a joke. Why do you think Republicans scared of you? Is it because your Black? Why do you feel the need to tell them that your on their side? Shouldn’t they already know that considering you’re the head of the RNC.

Since you’re the head of the RNC, why don’t you do anything about the pattern of racist emails and Facebook scandals your party keeps getting into? When you say change comes in a teabag, are you aware of the racism and ugly Anti-Obama sentiment that comes from these rallies.

Your use of slang makes you more of an outdated stereotype than someone who is in touch with Black culture. Black people aren’t stupid. You can’t just say “what’s up, I’m in the heezy” and just get them to vote for your party. Clearly both Obama and Michelle Bachman seem to treat your use of slang as a joke.

Black people will not become Republicans just because you change the name of the RNC’s blog to “What Up.” That is the name of teen Black pop magazine from the eighties. This just makes it look like you are patronizing the African American community and making the GOP look silly.

The problem with the GOP is not its lack of Black figureheads and the use of slang. The GOP has long written off Black voters and has used Black people as scapegoats to get white votes. They have voted against the interests of African Americans, whether it be affirmative action, funding inner city schools, or social programs.

When you stand up for Joe Wilson after he disrespects the President of the USA during a speech, you are aligning yourself with a man with a very strong history of racism against the first Black president.

Colin Powell is a Black republican who I respect. A man who isn’t scared to speak out against Rush Limbaugh and GOP racism. You on the other hand seem to be more of a tool of the GOP racists who only represents your people and culture with slang that no one over 40 (or under) should use.

Sincerely Casey Gane-McCalla

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The head of the Republican Party said Tuesday he regrets the public interpretation of comments in which he said the GOP voted against Mitt Romney last year in part because he was a Mormon. “Chairman Steele regrets the way his comments have been interpreted,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said in a statement.

“Chairman Steele believes Mitt Romney is a respected and influential voice in the Republican Party and looks to his leadership and ideas to help move our party and our nation in the right direction.”

Gitcho is a former Romney campaign staffer.

A Romney aide did little to veil his displeasure with Steele.

“Sometimes when you shoot from the hip, you miss the mark. This is one of those times,” said spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

Steele, already under fire for a series of miscues during his first 100 days as Republican leader, offered an unvarnished critique of Romney’s faults Friday as he guest-hosted conservative Bill Bennett’s national radio program.

He not only jabbed at the former Massachusetts governor, considered in some quarters to be one of the GOP’s leading 2012 presidential contenders, but also indicted the political tolerance of his own party during an exchange with a caller who suggested liberals had undermined the candidacy of the former Massachusetts governor.

“Remember, it was the base that rejected Mitt because of his switch on pro-life, from pro-choice, to pro-life,” Steele said. “It was the base that rejected Mitt because it had issues with Mormonism. It was the base that rejected Mitch, uh, Mitt, because they thought he was back and forth and waffling on those very economic issues you’re talking about. I mean, so, I hear what you’re saying, but before we even got to a primary vote, the base had made very clear they had issues with Mitt because if they didn’t, he would have defeated John McCain in those primaries in which he lost.”

Romney lost the 2008 Iowa caucus to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister who rode a wave of social conservative support in the state. The caucus is the first contest for candidates seeking the party’s nomination. The eventual nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, beat Romney in the ensuing New Hampshire primary, and Romney left the race after a series of Super Tuesday losses.

Last month, Romney told the Deseret News in Utah, home state to his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that “I believe that religion will not be a factor of a significant nature in selecting our nominee, regardless of who might run.”

He added: “In my own case, I won evangelical votes in Michigan, in places like Florida. … I know there’s a lot of interest in religion, but I don’t think for the great majority of Americans that’s the deciding factor.”

Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, was elected party chairman in late January. He was criticized in March after he branded remarks that radio host Rush Limbaugh made in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference as “incendiary” and “ugly.”

Steele said he had “enormous respect” for Limbaugh and was “maybe a little bit inarticulate.”

From the Washington Times

Capitulating to critics on the Republican National Committee, embattled Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele has signed a secret pact agreeing to controls and restraints on how he spends hundreds of millions of dollars in party funds and contracts, The Washington Times has learned.

The “good governance” agreement revives checks and balances Mr. Steele resisted implementing for RNC contracts, fees for legal work and other expenditures that were not renewed after the 2008 presidential nominating contest.

The agreement, proposed by several current and former RNC officials, goes further, making 33-year RNC veteran Jay Banning, who was fired by Mr. Steele along with his deputy last month, an on-call adviser to the RNC treasurer. Mr. Banning was seen as a trusted liaison to RNC members critical of Mr. Steele’s tenure and financial management.

“I regard them – the Steele administration – bound by it,” former Republican National Committee General Counsel David Norcross told The Times on Tuesday.

Read the Whole Story

From ThinkProgress.org:

During the January campaign for chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele slammed his opponent Chip Saltsman’s distribution of a CD with a song called “Barack the Magic Negro.” “It doesn’t help at all,” Steele said. “Absolutely, it reinforces a negative stereotype of the party.” However, while hosting Bill Bennett’s radio show this morning, Steele laughed when a caller called Obama the “magic negro” and seemingly agreed with the characterization.

Click here to read the transcript.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE:

From Christopher Beam at Slate.com:

Evil twin, nemesis, archenemy—whatever the term, every great protagonist has one. Superman had Bizarro, his alternate-universe self. Spock from Star Trek had the shady, goateed “mirror” Spock. Super Mario has the cackling Wario.

And Barack Obama has Michael Steele.

To read more, click here.

Today it was confirmed by Ethan Eioln of the CRNC (College Republican National Committee)  that she was contracted to be paid $3,600 for her August to election day work. The CRNC is clearly a major player for the Republican National Committee, receiving $25,000 from the RNC in 2002. The Center for Public Integrity also notes that most of the money raised by the group is spent on direct mail efforts and paying field representatives such as Todd.

Ashley Todd has admitted to making up her story about the mugger who attacked her and cut the letter B in her face according to KDKA in Pittsburgh. Yesterday there was a report that a Pittsburgh woman, Ashley Todd, was assaulted by a mugger, who robbed her and then assaulted her, when he found out that she had a McCain bumper sticker. She described the man who assaulted her as a dark skinned African American who was 6 ft 4 inches.

Computer records show that she was using her twitter accounts at the time of the attack. Also the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that bank records do not match her statements

UPDATE: McCain Aide Pushed the Scheme

From Huffington Post:

John McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established — and even told reporters outright that the “B” carved into the victim’s cheek stood for “Barack,” according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain’s Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, “You’re with the McCain campaign? I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Police arrested more than 80 protesters in downtown Minneapolis early Thursday following a concert by the political rock group Rage Against the Machine.

Lisa Kiava, a spokeswoman for the Hennepin County sheriff’s office, says at least 85 people had been arrested, but final figures weren’t immediately available. She says most of the charges are expected to be misdemeanors.

Police had expressed concern Wednesday about the possibility of trouble after the concert. At least 320 people had been arrested in Minneapolis and St. Paul since Saturday in pre-emptive raids and at protests that were marred by violence from people hoping to interfere with the Republican National Convention.

While the GOP spent all night trying to paint Barack Obama as an elitist, Cindy McCain’s outfit cost more than the combined income of Michelle and Barack Obama in 2004. In fact it would take 10 years of saving for the average American to afford her outfit.

Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: 3,000 Dollars
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: 4,500 Dollars
Three-carat diamond earrings: 280,000 Dollars
Four-strand pearl necklace: 11,000–25,000 Dollars
Shoes, designer unknown: 600 Dollars
Total: Between 299,100 and 313,100 dollars

Being rich and out of touch with real Americans….Priceless

In an era when many Americans are having their houses foreclosed and cannot afford to pay for their kids college education, Cindy McCain was wearing the equivalent of a 5 bedroom house. Her outfit could have paid for 3 students to go to Harvard. Where are the Republicans who criticized John Edwards and John Kerry for their expensive outfits?

In contrast, Michelle Obama’s outfit from her guest slot on The View cost 148 Dollars. That means Cindy McCain could have bought 2,000 of Michelle Obama’s dresses, enough to give one to every woman over 25 in the town Sarah Palin was Mayor of.

Is Cindy McCain a modern day Marie Antoinette, living in extravagant luxury while her country suffers? How will the GOP spin their attacks on Obama being elitist and out of touch when Cindy McCain could feed a small African country for a week with her dress