Lt. Governor Steele Announces Md. Senate Bid"

"Watch out Obama here Comes the Steele!

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele today formally announced he will run for the U.S. Senate, recasting the successful political partnership that enabled him to become the first African American elected to statewide office.

With Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. sitting in the front row and a crowd of cheering supporters in a Prince George's Community College field house, Steele kicked off what promises to be a bruising 2006 campaign for the seat being vacated by six-term Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D).

"Too many in Washington today are not working toward that common goal of growth and freedom and an equal opportunity for every individual. Instead, too many on the left have their feet set in the concrete of old fears, old divisions and old ways of government."

"It's time to heal our divisions. It's time to empower people, instead of empowering government
It's time to change the culture of our nation's capital, and that's why I am certain it is time for me to run for the United States Senate," Steele said.

Steele stood alone on stage, delivering a speech that called for change in Washington and never once mentioned the Republican Party. As one of the party's only African American elected officials, he promised to be a bridge -- a bridge of steel -- between cultures and communities.

"A bridge that not only brings both parties together but more importantly, brings all of us closer to one another," he said.

After the speech, Ehrlich said he felt "like a grandfather," nervous at first, but then proud that his political partner had set off on his own.

"My advice has been, if you think you can win, go for it," Ehrlich said.
The race will test Steele's ability to marshal support in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans on voter rolls by a margin of nearly 2 to 1. He will count on an unlikely blend of grass-roots support from minorities who are disenchanted with the Democratic Party and financing from GOP donors who are mostly white and conservative.

His candidacy faces some clear challenges. Among them, its open ties to national Republican luminaries who have largely been unpopular with Maryland voters, such as top White House aide Karl Rove, who hosted Steele's first fundraiser.

An independent poll released yesterday showed him trailing the Democratic front-runner, Rep. Ben Cardin of Baltimore. But it also showed him ahead in a match-up against another well-known Democratic contender, former congressman and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume.

Steele, 47, has already defied long odds in Maryland when, as the chairman of the state Republican Party, he was tapped by Ehrlich to be his running mate in the 2002 gubernatorial race. Theirs became the first GOP team to capture the state's top two elected offices in nearly four decades.

During the campaign, Steele proved an able compliment to Ehrlich, in that he connected with African Americans and social conservatives, two constituencies who may not have found Ehrlich's moderate positions appealing.

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