The busy week for articles on black conservatives continues. The New York Times magazine adds a long profile on Michael Steele, the Republican candidate for Senate in Maryland, and an African-American.
The article sets the tone with a typical bit of NYT agenda-journalism, implying that Mr. Steele is a novelty and/or a token. Once you get past that, though, it is reasonably flattering:
His bearing is both regal and warm. He seemed to already know many of the women in the room. With them, he bent his big frame at the waist and expertly planted a kiss on the cheek. He seemed less like a powerful politician than like a young man raised in the local church, back in town and wearing a fine suit, who had made a success of himself and was now returning to tell everyone about it.
Of course, in addition to Mr. Steele’s personal story, the article takes some time to do the political calculus.
Joe Trippi [...] paints a sort of developing nightmare for his party. "The Republicans are like the Chinese — they think in terms of like a 50-year plan. [...] Their goal is permanent realignment. What we have in Maryland is a national strategy against a party that is not strategizing at all."
More tellingly:
If the Republicans can win in a state like Maryland because they pried away some of the black vote from the Democrats, Trippi said, "It will be over." Over for whom? I asked. "The Democrats," he responded. He didn't mean just in Maryland — he meant in the whole country, because the electoral math for Democrats begins with an assumption of capturing something like 90 percent of the African-American vote.
I am certainly not the only one to notice these things, it’s clearly been part of Republicans’ plans for a while. The ‘Pubs are fielding a number of African-Americans in prominent races, especially for governor, and the candidates are saying the right things for the political base: pro-business, pro-life, religious, preaching self-reliance. Mr. Steele’s conservative bona fides seem to be in place, including an autographed picture from Reagan. ;)
(I like Joe Trippi a lot, btw, he’s a straight shooter and a good read, even if he works for the other side.)
To be clear, Steele is still a politician first, and as such everything should be taken with a grain of salt. The Republicans would be making a huge mistake if they let him off the hook on policy simply because he is an attractive candidate. He needs to walk the talk if charges of tokenism are to be avoided. So far, though, he seems substantial, polished and ballsy. Read the whole article.
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More: Betsy’s Page goes a bit further on Steele and the Dems’ dilemma. Hat tip Ed Driscoll for leading me to it.
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