Steele Running Against History

Other former lieutenants have their own sad stories. Blair Lee III, a state senator from Montgomery County, had high hopes of winning the governor's office after temping in the top job when Gov. Marvin Mandel was convicted of federal mail fraud charges in 1977. But proximity to the scandal -- one he played no part in -- was enough to cost him at the polls and end his political career.

During Melvin A. Steinberg's tenure under the notoriously prickly Gov. William Donald Schaefer, an ugly public falling-out left Steinberg stripped of virtually all his responsibilities.

When Steinberg set out to run on his own, his former boss backed someone else. "I lost the pro-Schaefer voters and the anti-Schaefer people," Steinberg said. "It was no-win."

A small collection of La Plata's leaders gathered under a nylon tent last week, eagerly awaiting the lieutenant governor's arrival.

Steele pulled up in his black Chevrolet Suburban, and state troopers stood watch as he stepped to the podium. Three years after a tornado ripped up Lagrange Avenue, Steele had arrived to celebrate the fortitude of a town and its leaders. After brief remarks, he took jumbo scissors in hand and cut the ribbon on a streetscape newly constructed -- in part, he reminded, with a $1 million infusion of state aid.

"Everyone enlisted the resources of their offices to make sure that La Plata would not only survive, but that La Plata would be revived from the destruction," he said.

The event, one of hundreds Steele has presided over during his first three years in office, underscored what may be the most perplexing paradox of his position: Why has a position best described as goodwill ambassador failed to launch successful campaigns for statewide office?

It has in many states.

The job groomed two of last year's leading Democratic presidential candidates: Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and former Vermont governor Howard Dean. It helped launch several current governors, including those of Louisiana, Utah, Indiana, Arkansas and Delaware. In Virginia, where the governor is not allowed to serve consecutive terms, the lieutenant's post is considered an ideal steppingstone. This year, Timothy M. Kaine (D) is trying to become the fifth of the state's past 10 elected lieutenant governors to win the governor's race.

But Maryland's position differs from most of those states' in an important way: It lacks clout. Maryland is among only 12 states in which gubernatorial candidates pick their running mates and the two appear on the ballot as a ticket, according to the National Lieutenant Governors Association.

In 18 states, governors and lieutenant governors run separately, creating the possibility that candidates from opposing parties can prevail. Running separately typically requires candidates to develop their own agenda and can better position them for bids at higher office.

Many states also give their lieutenant governors far more to do. The Maryland Constitution assigns the lieutenant governor "the duties delegated to him by the governor" -- but provides no further guidance.