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Why Not Michael Steele |
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Wednesday, 13 September 2006 |
 Lt. Gov. Michael Steele is a man without a record so it is difficult to judge him other than by his rhetoric and funding sources. It is dangerous to trust the rhetoric of a politician running for office, especially when it is as vague and malleable as Michael Steele’s. He talks about building a “Bridge of Steele” but it is not clear where that bridge will take America.
Steele’s False Image as Independent of the Two Parties
Michael Steele is avoiding mention of his political affiliation in his advertisements and is running as if he were independent of the two parties – claiming he will “tell the truth about both parties.” Yet, Michael Steele is a Republican Party insider. Prior to serving as Lt. Governor, he served as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Maryland. And, he was prompted to run by the Bush Administration with the urging of Karl Rove. He is the ultimate Republican insider – falsely portraying himself as independent of the two parties.
Steele on the Issues
On the issues, Michael Steele is vague or incomplete. His issues page does not discuss a top concern for Maryland voters – the Iraq War. Nor, does he discuss other important issues like the Patriot Act or Climate Change. And, when it comes to the issue of health care, which is a top domestic concern of Maryland voters, he only provides vague rhetoric, e.g. “turning hope into action” and describing his visits to hospitals and meetings with health care workers. But, no policy descriptions are provided.
The Bush Republican Party, which backs Michael Steele, is out of step with Maryland voters, even long-term traditional Republican voters. They campaign saying they want to bring Main Street values to government, but then govern based on Big Business Wall Street values. They say they want to protect the Constitution, but then they pass the most anti-freedom legislation in American history, the Patriot Act. They say they oppose “nation building” but then spend hundreds of billions rebuilding Iraq. And on the environment, the Republicans have taken ‘conserve’ out of ‘conservative’ at a time when more and more conservatives, including evangelical conservatives, are recognizing that humans have a duty to conserve and protect the environment at this critical time when the environment is threatened like never before.
Steele’s Funding
His funding has come from fundraisers held by Bush family members. President Bush raised $500,000 for him at one fundraiser. And, the president’s father, mother, brother Marvin, and sister Dorothy Bush Koch have hosted or donated to him. Karl Rove has raised $75,000 for Michael Steele. With this financial backing will Michael Steele challenge the president? Will he critically oversee the actions of the administration? Or will the imperial presidency of George W. Bush just get stronger with Steele in the Senate?
Some of the top contributors to Michael Steele’s campaign include the tobacco industry, casinos, developers, financiers and the energy industry.
The Washington Post reports that “Republican Michael S. Steele's sunny Senate campaign ad tells voters that he will ‘talk straight about what's wrong in both parties. You know, to get a different kind of government, you're gonna need a different kind of senator.’ Yet his candidacy is financed by some of the nation's best-known Washington Republicans -- White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was the host of Steele's first fundraiser -- with help from ‘Team Steele,’ a group of lobbyists assigned to bundle hefty PAC contributions.” The Post continues:
“Lobbyists and special interest groups are also major components of Steele's fundraising effort. In March, Roll Call reported that Steele would be backed by a K Street lobbying team that would help streamline fundraising efforts and could provide tactical help as Election Day neared.
“The team concept was devised to help in bundling donations from business interests so candidates could take in vastly more money at each fundraiser. Steele's team leader, Matt Keelan, a Republican lobbyist and political strategist, told Roll Call that he aimed to funnel every PAC contribution he could find to Steele through his team. Keelan told The Washington Post that he was advised by Steele's campaign not to grant any more interviews.
“Heye [Communications Director for the Steele Campaign] confirmed that is the campaign's policy.
“Steele has accepted $44,718 from the oil and gas industry but said yesterday that won't stop him from pursuing an aggressive environmental agenda. It isn't an ‘either-or,’ he said. ‘I'm talking about a different kind of leadership, where I'm not pitting one side against the other but pulling both sides to the table.’
The Post concludes their article mocking Steele’s claim that he is going to change things in Washington D.C.:
“’Every day, the same thing. Another day's news, another scandal in Washington,’ he says, shaking his head. ‘We've got congressmen on the take and lobbyists eager to make a deal. The whole system's broken, and they've lost all respect for things important to us.
“’I'm Michael Steele," he tells the camera, ‘and I am running for the United States Senate to shake things up.’”
The Democratic Party has put up a website critical of Michael Steele, www.therealsteele.com.
Link to Michael Steele’s Funding
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