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Steele Curtains
Conservatives are generally supportive of new Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, but are anxious to see what Steele does with a number of RNC outside consulting contracts. According to some RNC aides, several younger consultants who work in social media and online strategies are looking for fat contracts from the new RNC team that has promised to focus on Internet fundraising and organizing online. But those consultants also have ties to Google, a corporation that is so tight with the Obama administration that its CEO, Eric Schmidt, visited the White House three different times in the first two weeks of Obama's administration. Google has also funded several left-wing political groups, the most notorious being MoveOn.org.
Sununu 2010
Senate Republicans are hopeful that their former colleague, John Sununu, will choose to seek the seat that will become available in 2010 with the exit of Judd Gregg to join the Obama administration as Commerce Secretary. Gregg made it clear to Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell that he wanted out of the Senate, particularly after he felt he was unfairly tarred for his role as a negotiator on the federal bailout legislation last fall. "He didn't think he'd get a fair shot back in New Hampshire," says a political consultant. "And he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about a run."
Sununu has indicated that he wants to seek political office again, and he was considered a strong conservative voice during his time in the Senate.