Steele relates time spent at Johns Hopkins

The Republican campaign for Maryland governor made its way to Homewood campus last Thursday as candidate for lieutenant governor and Hopkins alumnus Michael Steele addressed a group of students in the Clipper Room on the second floor of Shriver Hall. Mr. Steele was invited to speak by the Johns Hopkins College Republicans.

In addition to this News-Letter reporter, a camera crew from the Washington, D.C.-based station Black Entertainment Television was on hand to interview Steele, who is making history as Maryland's first African-American candidate for lieutenant governor.

After receiving a less than overwhelming response to his introductory question of "How's everybody doing?," Mr. Steele could not help ribbing the audience.

"This is Hopkins, isn't it?" he said. "It hasn't changed a bit in 20 years. You've all got that stunned look on your face, thinking to yourself, 'God, I really need to be on D-Level.'"

Saying that it was "good to be home," Steele, who graduated in 1981 with a degree in International Relations, confessed to not recognizing the campus after so many years.

"The one thing that hasn't changed," he said, "are the students. You guys are still just as sharp [and] just as talented."

Calling Hopkins students "the best and the brightest we have to offer," Steele devoted a good portion of his remarks toward recommending that young people get involved in their communities and in the political process. Calling young people "the next generation of leaders," Steele echoed the oft-heard sentiment that the young are not given the credit they deserve.

"As young adults, you are dismissed and your viewpoints not taken seriously," he said.

Steele urged those in attendance to volunteer for the Ehrlich/Steele campaign and make history by helping elect not only Maryland's first African-American Lieutenant Governor, but also Maryland's first Republican governor in over 30 years.

Steele spoke for about 20 minutes, spending most of his time talking about Hopkins and relating anecdotes of his time spent her

Questions from the audience ranged from campaign issues to current event

One audience member expressed dissatisfaction with what he saw as Lieutenant Governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's making the recent sniper attacks into a campaign issue advocating stricter gun laws. He asked what Steele and Ehrlich planned to do about those laws should they win the election.

"We believe that the laws that are on the books need to be looked at again to make sure that they're effective in how they're being enforced," said Steele.

Another question asked was whether, if elected, the Ehrlich/Steele team would review Maryland's moratorium on the death penalty, a measure imposed by current Governor Parris Glendening after research into the possibility of the punishment being meted out unfairly to African-American males.

"Bob and I are split on that issue," said Steele. "I support the moratorium because African-Americans are disproportionately represented on death row. And it has been demonstrated that, in certain instances, there is reasonable doubt as to the guilt of certain individuals in light of DNA testing ? Bob's view is slightly different. Once we're elected and we need to face that issue, we'll face it together and work through it."

When asked about the possibility of another debate between the Republican and Democratic candidates, Steele replied "probably not." Calling the first and only debate between Ehrlich and Townsend a "nightmare," Steele criticized his opponents for what he called a refusal to agree to any further debates.

"They think they hit a homerun with Kathleen in that debate fiasco," said Steele. "They don't think they can improve on a good thing. I think they hurt themselves. I think she probably should have done another debate because the backlash from the Morgan State debate has resonated with a lot of voters in a way that has not helped them."

Steele was referring to the Sept. 26 debate between Townsend and Ehrlich, an event which drew attention for the acrimony shown between the candidates and the unruly conduct of the audience, which reportedly disrupted the debate by booing and hurling objects on stage throughout the proceedings.

Steele joined Ehrlich's campaign on July 1. In addition to being a corporate securities lawyer and founder of his own business and legal consulting firm, The Steele Group, he is well steeped in Maryland politics. In 2000, Steele became the first African-American to be elected chairman of the Maryland State Republican Party.