Why Michael Steele Must Be Taken Seriously

Does he identify ?  That is the question many African-American people ask when they see another African-American who does not  spend much time in the black community.  A person who has unconventional views, tastes in music, appearance, or a paucity of black friends may be viewed as eccentric, but the question people want to know is whether this person 'identifies,' i.e., considers himself a part of the black community.  

There have been many interpretations of Michael Steele's tacitics as the sprint to the general election begins, but what is clear to me is that he is signaling to black Marylanders that he 'identifies.'  By letting black Marylanders know he identifies, he is signaling that it is OK to support him in spite of the fact that he is a Republican.  He may be the uncle or cousin with the unconventional views, but he's still 'in the family.' George W. Bush may be the most unpopular President ever in the black community, but you will still hear mixed opinion of Condoleeza Rice because she 'identifies.'  The symbolism of having one of the most powerful women in the world as an African-American who identifies will always afford Condoleeza Rice a level of admiration in the community in spite of the policies she espouses.  Clarence Thomas does not identify and is considered to be a pariah in the black community.  Alan Keyes never sufficiently identified to ever be considered as a viable choice.

Michael Steele is smart.  Anyone who doubts it does so at the risk of losing what should be a safe Democratic Senate seat. Michael Steele is smart enough to know that a black Republican candidate who 'identifies' is in a good position to pick off black voters who wanted Mfume as the Democratic nominee.  Steele recognizes the symbolism of both Mfume's and his own campaign.  The reason many provided for choosing Cardin over Mfume was that Mfume had 'too much baggage,' was insufficiently funded, and that in November the Mfume voters would fall into the Democratic fold.  Few people here recognized the symbolism involved in this Senate race.   Steele does and has turned the rationale provided for Cardin on its head by successfully seeking the endorsement of at least one of Mfume's sons (they were all cited as part of the 'baggage'), arduously courting the African-American voters who preferred Mfume, and has left the Cardin campaign in the starting blocks of the race with carefully timed media buys.  (Is the Cardin campaign broke ?) The result is that Steele has pulled even in the polls and clearly has the momentum.

The Democrats still have a chance to recover but only by making a concerted effort to go after the Mfume voters, as well as the remaining Democratic voters, in a positive, aggressive way.  Cardin only won 43% of the vote in the primary which is unimpressive considering his fundraising advantage and the support of the state party for his candidacy.  The way to address the challenge will not be by saying vote Democratic because the Republicans are all evil.  Fewer and fewer people under 40 consider themselves to be aligned with any political party.  Many black people have lived their entire lives in areas with Democrats as the local politicians and find the status quo to be unacceptable.  The challenge for Cardin and the Democrats to nip Steele's campaign in the bud is to show how a vote for Cardin will be a real change from the status quo.  That a conservative Michael Steele is thus far managing to present himself as the agent for change is either brilliant marketing on his part, or failure on the part of the Democrats.