Maryland Lt. Governor Eyes U.S. Senate

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ED GORDON, host:

From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Ed Gordon.

Michael Steele became the first African American elected to statewide office in Maryland. Now the Republican lieutenant governor is looking to fill a seat in the US Senate. Steele announced his candidacy last month. Since then, his campaign has been under assault from Democrats and others. While that's not unusual for partisan politics, Steele's supporters say these attacks are personal and, even more disturbing, racial. Joining us now from Maryland is Michael Steele.

Mr. Lieutenant Governor, good to have you. Always good to talk to you.

Lieutenant Governor MICHAEL STEELE (Maryland): Hey, it's good to hear your voice. How you doing, Ed.

GORDON: I'm good. Thanks for being with us.

Let's talk a little bit about what you found yourself in, particularly over the last few months or so. Is this surprising, the kind of venom that you've seen?

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Oh, it is. It is. It's surprising on a number of fronts. First off, back in July, the Democratic Senatorial Committee, long before I even announced that I was running for the US Senate, had illegally obtained my Social Security number and then stole my credit report--a copy of my credit report, fraudulently, from a reporting agency. Two staffers--you know, the director of their research department and her assistant were let go by the DSCC, but Chuck Schumer and the national Democratic Party doesn't seem to think that's a problem and don't need to apologize for it, even though the FBI's currently investigating. It's a federal crime.

Secondly, in a couple weeks ago, three of our state elected officials, delegates and senators, came out and basically condoned using racial epitaphs to describe me, that it's OK to call me an Uncle Tom and things like that because, quote, my "values don't represent the masses of black people," which I found amusing, since those values were given to me by the black woman who raised me. But that, I guess, didn't count. And not to mention that a Web site by a gentleman out in New York depicted me as a Sambo, you know, doctored a photo of me with the big lips and the dark skin and all of that. And I'm sitting here thinking to myself, `Gee, I've been a candidate for this office for two weeks, and already I've instilled this kind of passion, this ugly passion from some.' And I think it comes a little bit out of fear, a little bit out of concern of the message that I have that will reach beyond traditional lines, I hope, and they want to try to stifle it and snuff it out as quickly as possible by de-legitimizing the work I've done as lieutenant governor and my standing in the black community.

GORDON: I say this on the show often: As far as we have come, there's still so far to go.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: There is.

GORDON: And often, when we see people in positions like yours, there is a sense of pride. But interestingly enough, a Democratic Maryland state senator, Lisa Gladden, said a couple of weeks ago, `Party trumps race, especially on the national level. It's democracy perhaps at its worst, but it's democracy.' Do you buy that?

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Well, I don't buy that. It's--that to me is an ignorant statement. And it's surprising coming from someone like Lisa who is a student of history. If she understands any of the underpinnings of democracy, democracy does not tolerate the underbelly of politics. It doesn't tolerate the ugly side of politics. That's what blacks had to go through coming out of emancipation, you know, with segregation and Jim Crow. That's the ugly side of national politics, and I don't think democracy tolerates that, nor is that something that I think we want promoted in our state. I think it--I find it hard to believe that if I, as an African-American political elected official, had said about Lisa, about Senator Verna Jones and delegate Selima Marriott, what they said about me, that, trust me, this program would be very different in its tone and its nature, as it would be around the country, because everyone would rightly agree that it was racist, and they wouldn't tolerate it.

So why do they tolerate it? Because I'm a member of the Republican Party, I have conservative views on certain issues, and I have an opinion that I think is worth hearing. And you can agree with it or disagree with it; that's fine. That's what public discourse is all about. But to engage in the kind of personal ad hominem attacks on me, because you don't like my opinion, because I'm actually speaking truth to some of the issues that we have to deal with, the fact that you walk the districts of these delegates and senators, you'll see anti-black behavior, because the schools and the communities are in a horrid condition, and the fact is I want to try to do something about that, and I think I have some solutions to those problems. So let's talk about how we solve those problems.

GORDON: I want to get to some of that because obviously this has superceded, unfortunately, for you, some of the things that I'm sure you want to talk about rather than dealing with this issue, but let me ask you this. In terms of just how black America may see black Republicans, let's take you out of it and...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Sure.

GORDON: ...make it a monolith in one sense. While no one condones the throwing of Oreo cookies or calling anyone an Uncle Tom, etc., etc., there are those who will say that the Democratic Party is out of step with black America.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Republican Party.

GORDON: We know the numbers. We certainly have seen them as relates to the feeling of those polled black Americans to President Bush at this point. What do you say to those folks who'll say, `You're on the wrong track'?

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Well, I would disagree with that. I mean, I think if you look at statistically what has occurred over the last four or five years in the community, you will see that the numbers just doesn't bear out the lie. Home ownership in the black community is at the highest level ever. You're talking over 55 percent of African-Americans own their own home, largely for the first time, in many cases. Black unemployment is for the first time in 15 years dropped below double digits. It's now sitting at 9.4 percent, down from 10.6 percent. And it's trending downward. The educational opportunities that have been afforded African-Americans through No Child Left Behind are beginning to reap the dividends that we hoped it would as black testing at the third-grade level and the fifth-grade level and the eighth-grade level is trending upwards. So there are signs of a turnaround.

What I try not to do, and I think this is where we get lost in the weeds, a lot of times, is ascribe labels to this kind of progress, and this kind of development. At the end of the day, my view of it is, you know, it doesn't matter whether it's Democrat or Republican. The question is: Are there significant changes occurring? Are we moving in a direction that makes sense for our community? And if we aren't, why not, and if we have leaders that have dropped the ball, what are we going do about them? What are we gonna do about that situation?

GORDON: Does it make it harder for your run--You gave the plus signs, and Democrats and Republicans do this; again, not a finger-pointing...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Sure!

GORDON: ...effort at Republicans, but you tout what's plus for you. There is still the question of unemployment...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Oh, absolutely.

GORDON: Well, but there's still the question of...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Let's deal with the negatives.

GORDON: No, no, no. Here's my point. There's still the question of unemployment nationally, particularly for African-Americans, and even more importantly and more tragic for African-American males. There's the stance of many Republicans nationally on affirmative action and the like. These things must make it harder for you to run on the Republican ticket.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: They make it harder but I'm a different drummer. You know, I've been my own person since the day I became a county chairman. I was very independent in my thought and expression as a state chairman, and I served as one of 13 members to run the national party on the executive committee. And in those rooms, and in those situations, I gave my counsel to the party that said, `Wake up.' You know, we have for too long sat on the sidelines of black progress. We have failed the black community in not presenting an alternative vision for them, for not presenting an alternative path for them to follow. Why not engage in a constructive, creative way that causes debate, that causes people to think about what their choices and their options are? Let individuals make up their minds where they want to land.

I'm not a--you know, my thing is I don't try to convert black people to the Republican Party. That's a waste of time. What I try to do is say at least look at some of the ideas. Give us a chance. We'll give you a choice. Give us the opportunity to present a different vision and you decide for yourself whether or not you buy it and if you want to be a part of it. I think self-empowerment, I think not just talking about hope, but turning hope into action, every day, through reforms that will empower people to start their business and grow their business, to get the education that they need--I've been working here in the state on drug rehabilitation, recidivism-related issues. Why? Because I'm sick and tired of seeing young black males go to jail.

And so I'm--you know, putting them in jail and letting them go only to go back to jail three or four years later isn't a cycle that I think is productive for the community. Let's talk about how we can get on the front end of these issues. Now a lot of people sit there and scratch their head and go `That's not Republican.' No, it's not Republican. It's not Democrat. It's common sense. If you want to make change in the community, you have to go about taking the steps to do that. My only point is I want to engage other elected officials from the other party or anyone, I don't care who they are...

GORDON: Yeah.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: ...in whether or not this is the best course, and then decide for yourself. We have not had that debate, Ed, in our community. When...

GORDON: Yeah. Let me ask you this. And I would love to have you and Mr. Mfume, who is also running for the Senate seat, on the program.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Yeah.

GORDON: We had him--together perhaps and discuss these issues and views. I'll extend that invitation to you now.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Absolutely.

GORDON: And if you accept, we'll call Mr. Mfume and see what we can set up. Let me ask you this very quickly. Because I know you've dealt with it publicly and locally, but since this show is national I'd like you--much of what brought the attacks about, for many, was the idea that people did not see you come to the--I'm trying to put this delicately so you'll take it in the right spirit.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Go ahead.

GORDON: But people suggested that you condemned the governor for holding a fund-raiser...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Oh, OK.

GORDON: ...at an all-white club. And I want to give you an opportunity to address that now.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Thank you very much. Let me--that is--OK, a couple of things on this point. The first is...

GORDON: With about a minute, Lieutenant Governor.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Sure. The first is this: My initial response to that was flippant because I was ticked off by the question, because I had just spent the last 20 minutes talking about the fact that African-Americans in Baltimore city public schools were falling further and further behind; that the conditions in which they were being educated were worse than poor. And so when asked whether or not, you know, have some concern about blacks getting to a country club, I'm thinking I--we can't even seem to be able to educate these kids to get the jobs to afford the membership fee. So that was my initial reaction. I was not defending the governor at all. What I was responding to was, you know, of all the things to be concerned about...

GORDON: Yeah.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: ...this is not one. I step back and admit my initial...

GORDON: Yeah.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: ...remarks were flippant. The reality for me is this...

GORDON: Yeah.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: ...no one should condone this type of behavior, even if it's a private club...

GORDON: Right.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: ...in an open and free society.

GORDON: All right. Let me do this, Lieutenant Governor...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: And I refer to the change that they have...

GORDON: ...since we're up against the clock...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Sure.

GORDON: I appreciate that you've come on to address this. The invitation is open. We'll call Mr. Mfume and hopefully we'll be able to get both of you on to talk about some of the issues in a better way than we've been able to do since we were dealing with headlines today, and if you'll accept that, we'll start to...

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Absolutely.

GORDON: ...put that in motion.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: All righty, buddy.

GORDON: All right. Thanks for joining us.

Lt. Gov. STEELE: Thank you.

GORDON: Appreciate it.

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