Meet The Press: Cardin vs. Steele

[Beet]

I agree, Steele is simply more charismatic, and he carried the debate.

I'm a little dismayed at how Cardin allowed Steele to portray himself as the outsider; Cardin may have been in Congress for years, but in the past 12 years and especially the past six, being a Democratic member of the House has been an effective outside status in D.C. The polarization of the past six years isn't just a Republicans-Democrats issue; it's happened largely under unified Republican control. Under unified control, the majority party has no incentive to compromise because it can get anything done without bipartisanship. The minority party has no incentive to compromise because it is being offered no compromise. For example, Steele asked Cardin why he didn't introduce a resolution for greater congressional oversight of the executive branch and Cardin pointed out that the House leadership refused to do so. Steele portrayed himself as running against the status quo when in reality a Steele victory would actually help uphold it.
It came out in the debate that Steele has been a Republican activist for decades, that he was state party chairman, and that he was recruited by Karl Rove, Cheney, and Liddy Dole. That's hardly very "outsider" or "new" to me. There's one guarantee that of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill in 2007; that's if the Democrats gain control of one chamber. In that case, the President and Congress of different parties will HAVE to work together to pass a budget. Guaranteed bipartisanship. Cardin's carrying the banner of the outsiders here.