Steele's Aura of Independence Needs Substance
2006-10-23
Source: Washington Post
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rss feedMichael Steele looks like the most innovative and refreshing candidate in this fall's campaign. All puppies aside, his TV ads have been the talk of the town, not only for their striking style and the lieutenant governor's good humor, but because Steele is bold enough to take some shots at his party's orthodoxy.
Steele clearly relishes breaking the mold. Even if his early steps away from the Republican line on the war in Iraq were tentative and clumsily anonymous, Steele has managed to portray himself as someone who understands the average Marylander's frustration with both parties and with all the tired tropes of American politics.
So when Steele is asked whether Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign, his response is neither to parrot the party line nor to obfuscate with standard-issue blather about how Cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the president. No, Steele declares the question to be "irrelevant. It's more political Washington stuff. Demagoguing. If I call for his resignation, what does that do? 'Oooh, Michael Steele says I should resign?' "
But while Steele's casual, backyard rhetoric is alluringly accessible, his reply is also a voter-friendly way of saying he's not going to answer the question. Similarly, when Steele is asked whether the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion was properly decided, he says, "I'm a Senate candidate. My opinion on that is moot." Another deflection, despite the effort to appear disdainful of the usual political rhetoric.
Like many voters who look at Democratic candidate Ben Cardin and his large contributions from big oil, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, I roll my eyes over his easy acceptance of politics-as-usual. But although Steele's TV ads present him as a different kind of politician, he also has taken plenty of moola from big industry.
The problem with Steele's enticing campaign is that, as lieutenant governor, the mantle of independence that he claimed turned out to be only a decorative cloak. For years, he touted his religious objections to the death penalty as a symbol of his ability to stand up for his principles even when they put him on the wrong side of Republican policy. But Steele couldn't deliver the goods: When he finally came up with his long-promised recommendation to Gov. Bob Ehrlich on Maryland's use of capital punishment, all Steele could muster was a confidential memo suggesting more study of the issue. If that's his idea of an independent stand, then those TV ads indeed are all bluster.
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