VIDEO- Ex-Steele Adviser: "Change in leadership" would be good for the RNC

By GottaLaff

Michael Aluminuminum is in a pickle of his own doing:

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On the one hand, there is Rachel Maddow who believes Michael Steele is not long for the RNC chair. On the other, there is Chris Hayes, who thinks he'll stick around.

Now Alex Castellanos thinks he should go. This from the man who helped shape Steele's public image. This is not a good sign:

Alex Castellanos, who was hired late last year by the RNC to help reform Chairman Michael Steele's image, said on CNN moments ago that he thinks "a change in leadership" would be good for the RNC.

I may go with Rachel on this one. The rats, they are leaving the ship.

CNN Admits That On-Air Commentator Has Ties To Insurance Industry

I hate to sound like a Greg Sargent groupie, but the guy nails it consistently. Alex is such a nice guy, I'm sure it wasn't done on purpose or anything.

Looks like the insurance industry has another PR mess on its hands.

CNN has acknowledged in a statement to me that a high-profile Republican commentator who frequently discusses health care on the air is also the media buyer for one of the ad campaigns bankrolled by America’s Health Insurance Plans, the major industry trade group currently waging war against the White House and Dem reform proposals.

CNN tells me his ties to the industry will be disclosed in the future.

The CNN contributor, well-known GOP consultant Alex Castellanos, is best known for producing the racially-charged “Hands” ad, has repeatedly appeared on the network attacking Dem health care plans and the public option, which is strongly opposed by AHIP.

Castellanos’s consulting firm, National Media, also recently placed over $1 million of TV advertising for AHIP, according to info obtained by Media Matters. AHIP’s most recent $1 million ad buy attacks the health care plan as a threat to Medicare.

Republican: Palin is another Huckabee

I dunno, I think Huck comes across as way more authentic and intelligent than Sar.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – It looks like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have one less fan.

On the same day that Palin is set to transfer power to her lieutenant governor, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos said her prospects for national office looked grim.

“’I’ve been a supporter of Sarah Palin — at times,” Castellanos said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “She gave the McCain campaign its best two weeks. But, you know, if we’re going to be critical of Democrats when they shirk their responsibilities, we have do the same within our own house. She abandoned her state in the middle of a term.”

(snip)

“We’re going to have a division in the Right in the Republican Party,” Castellanos told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, “We now have two Mike Huckabees – people who have a powerful force in the party but can’t get out of the party in a general election and win.”

Alex Castellanos "Obama's speeches are like sex..."

Kinda scary coming from Alex. You can skip ahead to about 1:50 to catch it.

GOP Strategist: Wussy Republicans are voting for stimulus

Maybe if we can keep them fighting amongst themselves we can get something done. APU, I found another great headline this morning, from my personal fav Dick "Toe Sucker" Morris-

Specter and Collins Commit Treason

Begala: "We ought to have at least agreed upon facts"

Transcript via Cesca-

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Because the press won't do its job, John. I criticized Barack Obama when he hasn't been tough enough. Barack's job is to run against John McCain, right. Don't shoot the monkey when you can shoot for the organ grinder. His job is not to focus on number two but number one. But it is the media's job when a politician flat out lies like she's doing on this bridge to nowhere so call her on it. Or this matter of earmarks where she's attacking Barack Obama for having earmarks, when she was the mayor of little Wasilla, Alaska, 6,000 people, she hired a lobbyist who was connected to Jack Abramoff, who is a criminal and they brought home $27 million in earmarks. She carried so much pork home she got trichinosis. But we in the media are letting her tell lies about her record.