Michael Steele makes it rain

Michael Steele poses with an RNC intern. Photo via Talking Points Memo.

When Michael Steele took over as chair of the Republican National Committee, he insisted that the GOP needed to give itself a hip-hop makeover in order to appeal to the young’uns, and to remind prospective young conservatives that they had a black guy in a position of power, too!

First, Steele followed up on this assertion by taking a series of (unintentionally) hilarious photos with his almost all-white interns. Now comes reports that Steele has been making it rain all over Los Angeles, dropping Republican donors’ cash as quickly as they can send it in. There have been private planes, huge expenditures at lavish Beverly Hills hotels, and “That’s on top of $12,691 for limos the same month. Plus, there’s the $1,946.25 spent at Voyeur West Hollywood, which the Daily Caller describes as “a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.” (The RNC’s socially conservative donors should love that),” according to Salon.

It’s enough to cause Adam Serwer to ponder whether Steele is actually a wonderful gift: ”I’m starting to wonder if Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele is a plant who secretly works for the Democratic National Committee.”

Apparently the RNC is denying that it was Steele himself who dropped nearly two grand at Voyeur, but nevertheless, someone was taking his “hip-hop makeover” suggestion a little too literally. The next logical step is for Steele to start popping Cristal bottles on the RNC tab, which would, of course, likely draw a stern talking-to from Jay-Z.

This is, of course, coming from the same party that charged sexism anytime you brought up Sarah Palin’s astronomical wardrobe costs, and that delighted in the revelation that John Edwards got pricey haircuts.