I was kind of curious about how Maryland Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele would explain his comments that bashed the Bush White House and condemned this political party.
In fact, I was just about convinced that the whole thing was a set-up. Steele made controversial comments he knew would generate lots of attention, with the expectation that he would inevitably be tied to the remarks (he did speak to nine political reporters in a well-known DC steakhouse). Running in one of the bluest blue states in the country, his criticism of Bush would help reinforce his bogus image as an independent thinker. Steele would give a wink and a smile to his GOP supporters, tell them it was just a scheme to help with swing voters, and everything would be fine.
But I never expected Steele to say he was only kidding.
Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele, trying to explain his criticism of the GOP, on Wednesday called President Bush his “homeboy” and said he was joking when he described his Republican affiliation as a scarlet letter. […]
“We want to be very, very clear that I’m not trying to dis the president. I’m not trying to distance myself from the president. I’m trying to show those lines where, you know what, I have a different perspective,” he said.
Asked about the scarlet letter remark, Steele said: “So I was making a joke about the fact that in this political climate, in Maryland, being a Republican is like wearing a scarlet letter. That’s all it is.”
So, the guy who doesn’t want to distance himself from Bush told reporters that he doesn’t want Bush to campaign with him in Maryland. The guy who talked about the “impediment” of having an “R” after his name was telling a “joke” that only he understood.
It’s no wonder this guy is losing.
Keep in mind just how little Steele held back. As the AP noted, he told reporters that the GOP-controlled Congress should “just shut up and get something done,” that the Iraq war “didn’t work” and “we didn’t prepare for the peace,” that the response to Hurricane Katrina was “a monumental failure of government,” and that “there’s a palpable frustration right now in the country.”
When it came to describing his party affiliation, Steele gave no indication he was joking around. Asked about being a Republican, he specifically said, “It’s an impediment. It’s a hurdle I have to overcome. I’ve got an ‘R’ here, a scarlet letter.” He added that it would be “tough” to run “as a proud Republican.”
But Steele was just joshing. He’s quite the kidder, you know.