Mystery Man of Steele

It's no longer a mystery. Actually, it hasn't been a mystery since midday.

The Washington Post reports that the mystery Republican candidate of Dana Milbank's Tuesday column is Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's Senate campaign acknowledged yesterday that he was the anonymous candidate quoted by a Washington Post political reporter as saying that being a Republican was like wearing a "scarlet letter" and that he did not want President Bush to campaign for him this fall.

The campaign made the disclosure after a day of speculation in the blogosphere and among political reporters about which Republican Senate candidate had made the disparaging remarks reported by Dana Milbank in the Washington Sketch column in yesterday's Post.

There wasn't a day of speculation. Early in the day, Rush Limbaugh stated, unequivocally, that the mystery man was Michael Steele.

Democrats in Maryland and Washington pounced on the comments to portray Steele as either a chameleon or a hypocrite.

"He realizes that he can't win being a conservative Republican in Maryland in 2006," said Maryland Democratic Party spokesman Arthur Harris. "He's out of touch with the majority of Marylanders."

State Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lierman pointed out in a statement that Steele has held fundraisers with the president, Vice President Cheney, Bush adviser Karl Rove and National Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman.

"He has taken millions from Bush and his top aides and even endorsed Bush in a prime-time Republican National Convention speech in August 2004," Lierman said.

Of course, the Dems pounced on Steele's statements. Steele has endured positively brutal attacks from the Dems. It's no shock that they'd attack him for this.

I'm not saying I agree with all of Steele's anti-Bush comments. I don't.

But why do the Dems say that speaking out is being hypocritical?

Agreement on certain issues and disagreement on others doesn't indicate hypocrisy.

How many times has John McCain gone on TV to attack the President? Too many times to mention. Is he a hypocrite?

Arlen Specter is suing Bush! Still, he calls himself a Republican.

I suppose if you have the libs' seal of approval, you're a maverick Republican. If they don't like you, you're a hypocrite.


The Post and the Maryland Dems need to understand that Republicans don't march in lockstep with the President.

Dems, on the other hand, are expected to tow the party line.

Look what's happened to Joe Lieberman because he has strayed from the "Bush lied, people died" Dem Iraq position.

Dems dissent at their own risk. It's not pretty.

...Steele spokesman Doug Heye did not dispute the accuracy of Steele's quotes in the paper but said Steele spent little time at the luncheon talking about the subject and said the article did not include some comments Steele made praising Bush.

"When he agrees with the Republican administration, he absolutely does so," Heye said. "When he disagrees, he speaks his mind."

Heye did not say why, if that were the case, Steele refused to be quoted by name originally. He said Steele had made similar statements in the past that had not attracted as much attention.

That's why I think this "super secret" luncheon meeting with reporters was a strategic move on Steele's part. Milbank took the bait. Steele knew what he was doing.

Other Republicans kept a stiff upper lip. Dan Ronayne, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Campaign, said there would be no drop in national party support for Steele.

"Michael's always been an independent voice and speaks his mind, always has been," Ronayne said. "Michael Steele's name is on the ballot. His campaign is going to make its own decisions."

Maryland Republican Party spokeswoman Audra Miller referred questions to the Steele campaign.

"Stiff upper lip"?

That's funny.

The Post makes it sound like Steele's comments are lethal for Republicans.

That's ridiculous, not to mention blowing this all way out of proportion.

..."We're not going to respond to anything the lieutenant governor may have said," said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. "The president strongly believes in Michael Steele's candidacy and strongly believes he will be the next senator for the state of Maryland."

...Although Steele's distancing himself from Republicans could help him among some Democrats and independents, it could turn off GOP voters, who the polls show give more than 85 percent of their support to Steele.

That's wishful thinking on the part of the Dems.

GOP voters will choose the lesser evil. I'm sure they'll still back Steele.

When Bush went to Maryland recently for a GOP fundraiser, he was warmly greeted by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), but Steele was absent. Steele's campaign said that he had a long-scheduled fundraiser of his own in Las Vegas and denied that he was trying to distance himself from the president.

What's the big deal?

Who cares if Steele doesn't want to be seen as too cozy with Bush?

Remember when Al Gore was running for president? He completely rejected Bill Clinton. He couldn't have been more distant. Was Gore being hypocritical?

The Post needs to admit that this isn't a new strategy and it's really a non-story.

The fact that they're treating it like a story is the only story here.