A visit to the Web sites of the Steele for Senate campaign and the Schaefer for Comptroller re-election bid might be a little confused to the political leanings of the two men, since they prominently display leaders of the party they don?t belong to.
The state Democratic Party is so ticked about the Democrats shown on Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele?s site that they?ve posted a picture of Steele and President Bush waving to supporters on their new site called TheRealSteele.com.
Until Monday, Steele had a slide show of photographs that included ones of him with Democratic Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume, the former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and with Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House Democratic whip from Maryland.
Hoyer has asked that his photo be removed, but Mfume has not. Hoyer told The Associated Press that Steele has been “an unapologetic, enthusiastic and continuing supporter of Bush” but “wants to obscure that.”
On Comptroller William Donald Schaefer?s Web site, a seven-minute video depicts the former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor with a string of world and state leaders, including Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
There are also a number of video clips with Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich,while there is only one still shot of Schaefer with Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening, with whom he had an ongoing feud, and one clip of former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who lost to Ehrlich.
The Steele campaign said it would replace the photo of Steele and Hoyer with one of Steele and Sen. John McCain, R.-Ariz.
“It?s just a picture,” Steele spokesman Doug Heye said, adding that Hoyer, Mfume or any Democratic elected official is welcome to use a photo of Steele on their site.
“You don?t see any Republicans” on the Steele site, said Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lierman, yet “every single major Republican has done fundraising events for Steele,” a “rogue?s gallery” that includes Vice President Cheney, presidential adviser Karl Rove, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
“A vote for Steele is a vote for Bush,” Lierman said. As for Schaefer?s site, “it?s not the only thing on his Web site,” he said. Schaefer?s video includes shots of President Jimmy Carter and many other prominent Democrats, but none of President Bill Clinton, whom Schaefer detested.
