This is priceless. After the WaPo went the extra mile this weekend, expending another editorial slot on bashing a candidate they didn't endorse, Michael Steele went off on them.
Watch it, here.
Steele was campaigning all last night, making two diner stops in Maryland in the wee hours of the morning. Here he is at the Square Cup in Hagerstown. NRO's Stephen Spruiell takes a look at the Steele campaign attitude late in the game:
Elsewhere in the county last night, Steele kicked off his two days of non-stop campaigning by visiting a call center where about 100 mostly black volunteers have been working 12 hours a day to get out the vote for Steele. Steele thanked them for their hard work and then summed up his campaign in one question:
“How many of you have gotten into an argument because of this race?”
The crowd murmured in assent, acknowledging the difficulties of explaining their support for Steele to friends and, in some cases, family members. For many African-Americans in PG County, voting Republican is uncharted terrain. This isn’t discouraging them. When Steele said, “I need you to keep having those arguments,” someone replied, “I will,” and the crowd responded with laughter and applause.
Steele is supposed to announce endorsements from several mega-church pastors this afternoon at 1 p.m. The WaPo will bury the news, but it'll get out anyway. I wonder how "mega" we're talkin'.
The First Baptist Church of Glenarden, maybe?
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author of "The Emerging Black GOP Majority," looks past the optimism in the Steele campaign and comes up with this:
Black Democrats still accurately capture the mood of fear and hostility the majority of blacks feel toward the Republicans. Even when black Democratic politicians stumble, or are tainted with scandal, that won't guarantee they'll be knocked from their perch. Scandal plagued Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson is considered the front-runner in his reelection bid for Congress. If he is beaten, it will be by another black Democrat. It took another black Democrat to defeat Georgia Democratic Congressperson Cynthia McKinney.
It's true, and it's a huge problem for the black community, and a huge obstacle for Steele.
Update: Another uplifting ad from Steele, this one starring his sons.
Update: Spruiell's on the ground, and reports on today's endorsements.
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