Ehrlich/Steele's Unique Appeal

Baltimore Sun ^ | 11/12/02 | Allegra Bennett

[Coop]

Had the Democrats chosen an African-American running mate in Maryland's race for governor, I never would have had my head turned by Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Michael S. Steele.

The Democrats needed to form a bond in three geographic areas key to a win, and had solid candidate potential in former Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry, veteran Montgomery County Council member Isiah Leggett and Clarence W. Blount, a senior respected member of the state legislature. None was selected. It seems that no matter how accomplished he is, a black man can get no respect. So when Congressman Ehrlich chose the telegenic Mr. Steele as his lieutenant governor, he got my attention.

In a color-struck society such as ours, a black guy and a white guy teaming up and calling each other friend raises either a warm feeling of hope or a brow of suspicion. In this instance, you had a smart, confident white guy from Arbutus who failed the NAACP's legislative decency test and a smart, confident black guy from Prince George's County who failed the "Is He Black Enough?" test. They are both Republicans. Suspicion was very high. I had to at least look.

Who were these guys? How serious could they be about winning in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1, where an African-American had never been elected to statewide office, where black Republicans are treated as non-persons, and where the white state Senate president feels comfortable calling the black candidate an Uncle Tom in public?

No, those two couldn't be serious. Besides, if any political party was going to be the first to select a serious black running mate in this state, it was the friends of black folks, the Democrats. When the time was right, of course.

Unfortunately, the time was not right this time for the party for which I have been a loyalist for 38 years...

[aristeides]

It's an interesting thought, but the statistics still showed a predominantly black vote for KKT (90% +).

Ehrlich's percentage of the vote in Prince George's County was smaller than Sauerbrey's four years ago.

[maica]

A radio report said Ehrlich/Steele got 53% of the Jewish vote statewide, slightly higher than that in the predominently Jewish precincts of the Baltimore suburbs.

These voters (at least in the precinct where I worked) voted a nearly straight Dem ticket except for the Governor's race.

[mafree]

Thanks for the ping. This is a great article and shows what is possible when Dems who are tired of the games, phoniness and corruption of their party can do when the GOP choice is better and in this case, it was.

[oiljake]

the big problem wuth kkt was concete for anyone who isnt a librel and they must totally beleave that the Kennedy name is the best of all things and anyone who dosent go along with that program are low lifes but the Ehrlich Steele team came across as real people who actually care about all residents of Md.

[alwaysconservative]

I don't know anything about Michael Steele's background except that he was head of the Maryland GOP for awhile before being selected to run with Erlich. Is he, by any chance, related to that conservative intellectual powerhouse, Shelby Steele? That would be great.

Thanks!

[Freee-dame]

Ehrlich's percentage of the vote in Prince George's County was smaller than Sauerbrey's four years ago.

Prince George's County had a very low voter turnout. Lots of Rats helped elect Ehrlich by staying home.

[maica]

I don't know about a connection to Shelby Steele, but he is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown Law School. His parents are of 'umble birth, hardworking ethic and still married to each other.

[maica]

I forgot to add that he is a pro-life Catholic.

[Coop]

The Washington Times has called on the Baltimore Sun to apologize to Steele for that editorial statement.

I'm sure the Washington Post will be calling the Sun shortly. < / sarcasm >

[Coop]

A radio report said Ehrlich/Steele got 53% of the Jewish vote statewide, slightly higher than that in the predominently Jewish precincts of the Baltimore suburbs.

The Baltimore 'burbs were supposed to be strong areas for Ehrlich, but 53% of the statewide Jewish vote is IMHO huge! His hard work at courting that constituency obviously paid off. I wonder if any of this MD success can be attributed to a seismic shift in voter loyalty? Haven't heard about much else regarding the Jewish vote in other elections.

[aristeides]

Haven't heard about much else regarding the Jewish vote in other elections.

That sort of information may be hard to get without the exit polls. You could probably get a reasonable approximation of the truth by doing a regression analysis on districts, but I wonder if anybody will do that.

[Coop]

I'm impressed with Bob Ehrlich, but unfortunately he's not pro life. The below excerpt is straight from his website:

Unafraid to exert his independence when necessary, Bob has taken a number of positions - opposing term limits, supporting a woman's right to choose, and backing strong environmental protections - that have put him at odds with the House leadership.

[HoosierFather]

I have not seen the final demographic profile from the election. However, polls leading up to the election were showing KKT lagging (in the 75-80% range) with the black vote and Ehrlich-Steele picking up the difference. This was looking like a big improvement over the 90%+ black vote garnered by Glendening in previous elections.

Now, it is possible that the black vote did come home to some extent in the final days of the campaign. Again, I have not seen the final data (do you have a citation?). I think the earlier polling was showing that some in the black monolith were at least taking a look at Ehrlich and Steele.

It would seem as the Republicans recruit solid candidates like Steele and leaders like Colin Powell, Condi Rice, etc., they will have a chance to influence the black (and other minorities) electorate. This will not be a sea change overnight, but rather a slow and steady process over many elections. If Republican candidates can consistently draw 30-40% of the minority vote (a lofty goal), they can be the majority party for decades. This should be a serious goal for the party, because the coming demographic change in minority voters does not favor Republicans (at least right now).

[Gracey]

You were a little off base in your predictions but I'd say you probably underestimated the margin of victory. If the FRAUD (probably largely in Baltimore area) was taken into consideration, I'd say the margin of victory was closer to 5%. Good job.

I cried tears of joy reading this article.

How can we thank Allegra Bennett for letting us know her thoughts? Anyone know her e-mail address?

[Gracey]

Geez, in this age of Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, be happy that someone has an R next to their name. Let's just try to keep alive and get more Republicans elected even if they're not "perfect." Geez, check out the alternative. Believe me, this pair won't be killing any babies. They can't even get pregnant. Rest well.

[Coop]

You're the one that needs the rest, my friend. I like Bob Ehrlich, but he's not pro life. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you ask Governor-elect Ehrlich to remove the above statement from his website.

[Gracey]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. My fault.

[maica]

He is against Partial -Birth abortion and for parental notification. Let us be thankful for baby steps until we get a strong majority. Did you know that Michael Steele is a Pro-Life practicing Catholic?

[cogitator]

Now, it is possible that the black vote did come home to some extent in the final days of the campaign. Again, I have not seen the final data (do you have a citation?). I think the earlier polling was showing that some in the black monolith were at least taking a look at Ehrlich and Steele.

Sweet Victory for GOP'S Steele

Read the second-to-last paragraph.

Here's the Post's analysis of the election results.

Ehrlich Shook Conservative Label

"Black voters, regardless of ideological leanings, overwhelmingly supported Townsend, who claimed 95 percent of the vote among black liberals, 91 percent of black moderates and 79 percent of black conservatives."

And this is the article suggesting that white women were an unexpected source of support for Ehrlich.

Maryland Voters Deliver a Call for Change

"The poll suggested that Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's defeat on Tuesday may have come, in part, from an unexpected source: white women, who voted on Tuesday in disproportionately large numbers for Ehrlich.

Ehrlich held a 23 percentage point lead among white women, claiming 61 percent of their vote compared with 38 percent for Townsend. In the past two governor's races, white women split their vote equally between the Democratic and Republican contenders."

So given Glendening's personal conduct in the last years in office, I interpret that as indicating that a large number of women saw KKT as condoning the infidelity of her political "husband", and spanked her for it.

[cogitator]

One can still hope.

Republican Must Stay Close to the Center

"But beneath the rhetoric, the governor-elect has made no secret of his desire to rewrite a policy agenda in a state that has been long controlled by Democrats."

"Among other pledges, he has promised to partially address the state's budget woes by legalizing slot machine gambling. He also said he would review gun control laws, end the state's moratorium on the death penalty, sign a ban on late-term abortions and build the intercounty connector highway in the Washington suburbs."