Michael S. Steele..."Keeping it Real"

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele has promised to bring “the hood to the Hill” if he is elected to the U.S. Senate.

But yesterday he trekked to the old stomping grounds of one of his possible opponents, Kweisi Mfume.

Mr. Steele came to the mean streets of the Northeast Baltimore neighborhood of Park Heights in the morning to announce his public safety plan and join in an impromptu sidewalk gospel concert.

“For too long, this neighborhood, and many others like it across Maryland have been forgotten,” said Mr. Steele, a black man and a Republican.

“We cannot close our eyes and ignore the condition of our community any longer,” Mr. Steele said. “We can no longer allow the tale of two comunities to exist, where on one side opportunity and empowerment flourish, and form the foundation of dreams, and where on the other drugs, crime and poverty form the foundation of every child’s reality.”

Mr. Steele was introduced by Israel Cason, founder of “I Can’t, You Can” (ICYC), a neighborhood drug treatment center in the middle of a rundown strip mall, just down from Luke and Lou’s Delly, Ms. D’s Boutique (”All You Need and More!”) and Discount Liquors.

Mr. Cason, a former heroin addict who cleaned up in the mid-90s, called Mr. Steele “an asset to any soul looking for recovery.”

And Mr. Steele, dressed in a striped short-sleeve shirt and green slacks, spoke to a crowd on the sidewalk that included numerous recovering drug addicts who receive treatment and counseling at ICYC.

“Let’s not criminalize the addict. Let’s uplift the addict,” Mr. Steele said, to applause. “It’s not enough to lock them up. You’ve got to love them too.”

The Republican got a warm welcome, but it wasn’t hard to see he was deep in his potential opponent’s terrritory: A liquor store across the street from ICYC displayed an “Mfume for Senate” sign, and Mfume stickers had been stuck on street signs and on parking meters.

Once Mr. Steele finished, Mr. Cason launched into a roaring gospel song that began with the line, “I’m going to take a trip, on the good old gospel ship, and we’ll go sailing through the air.”

About 10 people who had been sitting in folding chairs in front of ICYC jumped from their chairs and hurried to two microphones in front of a full band, with an electronic keyboardist, a drummer, and a bassist.

[Download the video here.]

Mr. Steele clapped along and posed for pictures with a group of young children, but he did not shake hands with the 20 or so street toughs standing at the edges of the crowd.

Mr. Steele’s public safety plan focused on fighting gang activity, drug trafficking, violent crime and sex offenders, while restoring funding for law enforcement that Mr. Steele said has been left out of President Bush’s federal budget.

Jon Ward, Maryland correspondent, The Washington Times