Oped on Maryland Republican Senate Candidate Michael Steele

http://collegedemsofmd.blogspot.com/2006/06/methinks-thou-dost-protest-too-much.html

Methinks Thou Dost Protest Too Much, Michael Steele

By Lee Fang

President, Maryland College Democrat Federation

*This refers to the new Steele commercial, view it here
Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele just unveiled his first commercial for his campaign to the U.S. Senate on his website this week. In an apparent move to reinvent himself in time for the fall, the 90 second web broadcast consists of Steele rattling off his “reform” agenda for Congress in a casual front porch setting. It begins with Steele emerging from a house to retrieve his newspaper. Upon glancing at the folded paper, he immediately slaps it down, exclaiming “another day’s news, another scandal in Washington.” He does this with the most authentic expression of disgust, of course.
Pause for a minute. One cannot help but wonder precisely which headline Steele is so taken aback by. Could it be, “Cardins blast Steele for comparing stem cell research to the Holocaust,” (Gazette 2/10/06) or maybe it was another ‘Washington’ controversy Steele would be more familiar with, like “Abramoff used firm founded by Ehrlich aide.” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel 1/4/06) Continuing on, Steele suggests a four year waiting period for members of Congress and their staff to become lobbyists, confidently stating “let’s put a pad lock on that revolving door.” Such a rigid platform from Steele would logically dictate similar guidelines within his own staff, right? According to Roll Call, (3/30/06) Steele hired former Congressman Pombo staffer Doug Heye to become his communications director in March. Heye, as revealed by published Abramoff e-mails, is a close ally and confident of disgraced former Congressman Tom “K Street Project” Delay. The Abramoff funded luxury MCI Center skybox, the epicenter of the Washington ‘revolving door’ culture, could be considered a second home for Heye for the amount of times he’s invited there by his lobbyist and corrupt politician buddies.
Aside from Heye, upon hearing these bold initiatives from Steele, one must wonder what Steele has done to combat corruption and unethical behavior with his 4 years in Annapolis. Not much. In fact, the Ehrlich-Steele administration has worked to create a miniature Republican revolving door within Maryland. Can you imagine Steele’s facial expression when he came out on his porch the morning of May 24 to read the Washington Post headline, “Close Ties To Ehrlich Lucrative For Lawyer.” In this article, the Post reveals that the Ehrlich-Steele administration personal lawyer, David Hamilton, has been building a powerful lobbying business and exploiting Maryland lobbyist law. The article reads, “Hamilton's activities are subject to none of the rigorous disclosure requirements lawmakers have placed on lobbyists. He does not, for example, have to disclose meetings that he personally arranged and attended for clients with Ehrlich.” Working for the firm Ober Kaler with lobbyist William Pitcher, Hamilton easily uses his perch at the side of the Ehrlich-Steele administration to drain as many Maryland tax payer dollars as possible for his clients.
The commercial closes with the jingle, “Are you ready for change? Get ready for Steele.” Steele is a public servant who has served his post for four years, yet cannot give one example of his ability to clean up government, and get rid of influence peddling. Under scrutiny, he has actually proven himself well trained in the art of pay-to-play government. One must concede the following: Steele is bold enough to keep a straight face while attempting to his make weakest issue, his central one. Marylanders must consider if a bold campaign strategy is tantamount to anything like the bold leadership we need.