groups who really in many ways funded the republican victories this year. so money, big problem. second thing for michael steele is he's had a lot of problems just managie ining his own imag. >> reporter: earlier this year, the financial reports showed the rnc spent tens of thousands of donor dollars on what some considered questionable expenses, including nearly $2,000 at a topless nightclub in california. add to that steele's series of controversial comments, including calling afghanistan a "war of obama's choosing." steele told cnn last year those verbal misfires are part of a strategy. >> i'm very introspective about things. i don't do -- i'm a cause and effect kind of a guy. so if i do something, there's a reason for it. even it may look like a mistake, a gaffe. there is -- there's a rationale, a logic behind it. >> if steele tells the rnc