[SmokingJoe]

It was a yes or no question about a deliberately ambiguous subject, and a trick one intended to throw him to the dogs of conservatives

Nothing ambiguous about it. Heck, when even White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, calls Steele out on it for playing the race card, then you know you are uintroble.
Robert Gibbs:
“I think Michael Steele's problem is not the race card, it's the credit card.”
Even the moronic Gibbs get sit.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Gibbs would of course want to downplay the race card.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And anyhow Gibbs is only referring to allegations of a race card.