Posted on 03/17/2005 9:22:56 PM PST by Dustin Hawkins
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said yesterday that neither he nor first lady Kendel S. Ehrlich intends to run for the seat being vacated by Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, but he held out the possibility that Lt. Gov. Michael Steele could become the GOP's most competitive U.S. Senate candidate in decades.
Ehrlich said he has spoken with party leaders in Washington - he wouldn't say whom - about the strongest Republican candidate for the seat. He said now would be the wrong time for him to run.
"I have gone around the state talking about commitments ... about change, about moving the ball forward," he said. "That job is not done. I believe, in fact I know, that I would be abandoning my commitment to the people of Maryland if I left my job early."
Ehrlich said that his wife is flattered that her name has been mentioned as a possible candidate but that she is busy with their two young sons.
As for a Steele candidacy, Ehrlich said he would regret losing a true friend and partner as his lieutenant governor, and would consider the best interests of the state and the party in advising Steele over the next few months on whether to run.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Steele was a very impressive speaker at the Republican convention last summer. But Mfume's gonna suck up all the media bandwidth...
Not if all good FReepers contribute to his campaign and buy air time for him to expose the rotten past of "Mfume". I certainly would send money for that worthy cause.
I'd love Steele to run against Mfume. This would be an interesting pick up for the Republicans if Steele would run and win.
Agree. This is a perpetually Demorat seat we can pretty easily steele.
Mfume can be exposed as a NAACP hack and a out-of -the-mainstream liberal. Link Mfume to Julian Bond and Steele has a real chance.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think Lt. Gov. Michael Steele is an outstanding Republican! I'd love to see him defeat Mfume. He certainly has the intelligence, poise and tensile strength for a battle of that magnitude. Let us not forget that he and Gov. Ehrlich unseated incumbent Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in a traditionally blue state. Not a small accomplishment when one considers the despicable way Steele was treated by Kennedy's union thugs; and the combined horrors Steele and Ehrlich had (and continue to have) with the leftist Baltimore Sun.
Should he choose to run, I'll happily contribute to his campaign. Doesn't bother me in the least that I live no where near Maryland. He's worth it. And I'm convinced he's someone I'll always want on my team!
We may still see a contentious democratic primary....particularly if Chris van Hollen enters the race. He is the very white congressman who beat RINO Connie Morella. If he doesn't enter the race, it's because some serious deal making is going on....and the powers to be want an Mfume coronation. As strong of a candidate as Steele may be, this is a state dominated by some very blue population centers.
Even with an attractive GOP candidate like Steele, the registration numbers in Maryland are daunting. "Pretty easily?" No way. "Long shot" is more like it.
KKT wasn't the incumbent governor.
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