Michael Steele’s Scarlet Letter

2:07 pm EST July 25th, 2006 | Politics | 7 Comments

Republican candidate running in a “close” senate race in one of the most Democratic states in America. The person was afraid to put his name out there (way to stand by your convictions) but odds are it is Maryland’s own Michael Steele.

He spoke of his party affiliation as though it were a congenital defect rather than a choice. “It’s an impediment. It’s a hurdle I have to overcome,” he said. “I’ve got an ‘R’ here, a scarlet letter.”

That left the candidate in a difficult spot. “For me to pretend I’m not a Republican would be a lie,” he reasoned. But to run as a proud Republican? “That’s going to be tough, it’s going to be tough to do,” he said. “If this race is about Republicans and Democrats, I lose.”

Again, this is (likely) Michael Steele, Republican running behind Democrats Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume.

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7 Responses to “Michael Steele’s Scarlet Letter”

  1. Rex Mundane says:
    July 25, 2006 at 2:07 pm

    Not that I’m defending Steele here, cant stand the twit myself, but what makes you think its him?

  2. scratch says:
    July 25, 2006 at 2:07 pm

    Your obsession with Steele’s party affiliation is a little silly, in my view. I’m fairly certain that Maryland voters will know that he is a Republican come election day…just as they did when he and the Governor were elected. Until then, he will focus on the things that appeal to voters, same any other candidate.

  3. Oliver Willis says:
    July 25, 2006 at 4:07 pm

    Actually, too many voters ignore party ID when they vote. I’m sure you can find a non-insignificant amount of people who vote for Bush then their local Democrat and vice versa. In Steele’s case, he is a Republican in a 2-1 Democratic state and knows just by party ID alone he could lose. He has everything to gain by not being identified as a Republican or a conservative in this most Democratic and moderate of states.

  4. BD says:
    July 25, 2006 at 4:07 pm

    Salon’s War Room runs a pretty thorough Sherlock on the process, although they admit that certain words and phrases open up the field depending on how you interpret them.

  5. Rheinhard says:
    July 25, 2006 at 4:07 pm

    Rex – ABC News just confirmed it.

  6. Rex Mundane says:
    July 25, 2006 at 4:07 pm

    Ah… well that settles that then.

  7. JK says:
    July 25, 2006 at 8:07 pm

    After the takeover in 1994, knew Republicans would eventually implode under the weight of their own intolerance and demonstrated stupidity.

    It took a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would, but the neocons and religious right have run the GOP into the dumper, and I, for one, am relieved it seems to finally be coming to an end.

    They suck.

    JK