Wont vote for him, but he's a hell of a nice guy... Michael Steele

[Moooooo]

So there I am sitting on the curb in Dundalk at the 72nd 4th of July parade.  Girlfriend to my right, mom, dad and sister to my left.  We're all fully decked out in our Cardin/O'Malley/MD-Democrat gear and here comes the Bob Ehrlich/Michael Steele float. 

Ehrlich walks up, looks over, and continues to walk - he knows he not welcome on this side of the street. 

Following close behind is Michael Steele, you can pick him out from a mile a way because he has the biggest and brightest smile on his face.

 The guy shows no fear, walks up, looks me straight in the eye and says - "Whats up guy?  Happy 4th and good luck to you this year".  Ive never met a nicer guy in my life.  You could really tell he's just happy to have the opportunity to run for U.S. Senate.

O'Malley was also there.  When he passed our section the entire street went nuts.  The guy is  rock star, period.

[Kevin]

If Steele does get elected he will be a great Senator, I like the man, I think he has guts.   

[Mike in Maryland]

I'm sure Nick's right about Steele's appealing personal style, though I've never met him (and if I did it wouldn't change my vote).  However, I live in Montgomery County, which is not going to do much for Steele in November, try as he might; the only time I know he's been here lately was for closed-door Republican fundraisers.

Incidentally, I spent a couple of weekend/holiday days driving around the major populated parts of the state, and I found little evidence there was a Senate race on.  There were not many signs or other evidence of support for the three main candidates.  Almost all I saw were some bumper/window stickers on cars (most of them for Cardin.)  Nor have I seen/heard any ads on TV or radio, or gotten any of the mailings/automated phone calls from the candidates, though I expect that to change over the next two months.

[Flying Dog]

O'Malley has everything going for him right now. Duncan dropping out really helped him and now he can fully concentrate on destroying that prick Elrich.

[Soaring Eagle]

I think Steele is a capable individual who could, without a doubt, be an effective Senator. I don't agree with a lot of his views, but he could do the job and is probably more qualified than Mfume.

[Moooooo]

Mfume served several terms in congress.  If we're basing experience on years served, Mfume beats Steele.

[Mike in Maryland]

I think Steele is a capable individual who could, without a doubt, be an effective Senator. I don't agree with a lot of his views, but he could do the job and is probably more qualified than Mfume.

Perhaps he could, but effective at what?  For all Steele's moderate talk, members of both houses have a habit of falling into line with their party's leadership on tough votes, and the prospect of Steele doing so won't help him here with voters.   George Bush and Bill Frist wouldn't be raising money for him if he were that independent-minded.

In terms of years served in office, Mfume has 17 (Baltimore City Council and Congress), while Steele has only the four as Lt. Gov.  Cardin trumps them both in this sense, with 40 years in office (state and US House.)