5 Latest Republican National Committee Embarrassments

Here are 5 bad things that have happened to the Republican National Committee in the past 24 hours:

1) Robert Gibbs slammed RNC Chairman Michael Steele for claiming recent criticism (like that the RNC shouldn’t spend donor money on strip clubs) is tied to his race. Said Gibbs, “I think Michael Steele’s problem isn’t the race card, it’s the credit card.”

2) In a direct challenge to the RNC, American Crossroads, a new 527 committee advised by Karl Rove when he’s not on TV, has pledged to spend 50 million on Congressional races this fall.

3) A top RNC fundraiser with connections to the richest conservative donors has resigned his unpaid fundraising position, stating he was “deeply troubled by the pattern of self-inflicted wounds and missteps,” and that he’s lost confidence in Steele.

4) It was revealed that Steele’s new “special assistant for finance” was fined $4,000 by the city of DC and forced to repay $70,000 in “unauthorized expenses” incurred when he chaired two local baseball teams. (In addition to the whole lesbian strip club thing, AlterNet reported last week that the RNC’s FEC filings show the organization spent donor cash on such necessaties as fish tackle and booze, marking many of the expenses as “office supplies.”)

5) Two prominent Republican lawmakers scolded the RNC and pointedly refused to state their support for the embattled chairman Sunday. Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, on Fox news Sunday, “This kind of thing has got to stop or they won’t get any contributions.” Rep. Kevin McCarthy: “The RNC does have some challenges that they need to correct.”

Steele has said that he will not step down.