I have been a supporter of Michael Steele ever since I heard that he was running for the US Senate, however what I had trouble understanding was how he was garnering support amongst some of the Democrats most ardent supporters...blacks and women.
What I ultimately hoped would become of his candidancy...beside his election to the Senate...was the revelation of a useful template for the Republcans to use to appeal to the black vote and to women who dream of a different America.
Well...I been waiting for his tactics to be revealed and I think this quote will be very useful to the GOP in the future reagardless what becomes of the Steele for Senate candidacy...
I've not come to them as a Republican or a Democrat, as an African-American, or anything other than who I am, and that is someone who believes in public service, who wants to go to Washington to try his best to make a difference in a town that has forgotten where people live and how they live and what they go through every day.
So that's not color. That's not party affiliation. That's real life. And I've been speaking to real life for the last year and a half, and the people of my state are responding to it. ..
...It is absolutely pitiful, and that's nothing more than what the Baltimore Sun said about me four years ago, that I bring nothing to the table but the color of my skin. They were just a little bit more sophisticated in their ignorance.
My conversation with the editorial board didn't go the way they wanted it to go because I wouldn't kowtow and answer the questions the way they wanted me to answer them. I'm my own person. I don't care about the Washington Post. .. not going to get me elected. The Washington Post is not going to prevent me from getting elected.
They're a bunch of folks, as I told them in the interview, who sit in an ivory tower, who have no clue what real life is about out here. It's easy to pontificate when you don't have to put a vote on the line, when you don't have to look a voter in the eye and let them know what you really think, so what — they come after me.
.... So clearly, I must be winning this race, and the Washington Post will have to write that headline, "Steele Wins", and then eat it....
The Republican party would do well to take note of how Steele has appealed to the people of Maryland and how positive their response to his message has been.
Source:
Fox NewsSomething interesting from
Realclearpolitics about the Steele Surge:
The good news for Steele is he has essentially halved Cardin's lead from eleven to six in The Sun poll. It is moderately good news for Cardin that the same survey that shows O'Malley up only one point in the Governor race has him with a six-point lead on Steele. But the Cardin campaign can't be thrilled with only a six-point lead with Steele only pulling 12% of the black vote. With Steele sporting a 7-point lead among white voters, what happens to Cardin's lead if Steele's 12% of the black vote goes to 20% or 25%? That's why this week's endorsement of Steele by powerful Prince George's county black Democrats is potentially huge in this race. This poll was taken Saturday-Monday and thus was taken too early gauge what impact their endorsements may have on the race. Steele still has clear momentum.
