Steele Factor Looms In Md.

Bobby Henry, an associate minister, said at the time that he wasn't sure the visit would yield many votes. And he was right -- academics found that Ehrlich-Steele didn't fare much better with blacks than had past GOP tickets, between 10 percent and 15 percent statewide. But Henry also said "it was meaningful to us that he came."

Last week, Henry said it has been even more meaningful that Steele and Ehrlich have kept on coming. "They have been back on numerous occasions," Henry said, "and they followed through on things they said they would do."

Entries in Steele's calendar suggest that he has turned an office with no job description into a headquarters for the administration's minority outreach effort. In recent months, Steele has met often with black political, religious and business leaders. He has made regular visits to, and delivered grants to, black churches and universities.

In an interview, Steele said he believes that those efforts have helped change black voters' perceptions of Republicans. Specifically, he cited efforts to increase funding to historically black colleges and to revamp the state's minority business enterprise program -- which helps minority- and women-owned firms compete for state contracts. "We didn't just talk about these reforms; we did it," he said.

Whether he can persuade voters of that remains an open question.

"I just don't see it translating," said Kenneth N. Harris Sr., an African American member of the Baltimore City Council, who held a party recently for Cardin that drew about 100 people, about two-thirds of them black, he said.

In Maryland, Democrats still hold a nearly 2-to-1 edge in party registration and have an overwhelming advantage among blacks, who account for 28 percent of the population -- the highest percentage of any state outside the Deep South. And, they note, Ehrlich and Steele drew fewer votes in Prince George's than did Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey in 1994 and 1998. Another black Republican who ran statewide, Alan Keyes, failed to gain traction outside GOP strongholds in his 1988 and 1992 Senate bids.

But Ronald Walters, director of the African American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland, said Steele could emerge as a viable alternative for disaffected black Democrats.

"I think he has managed to show up at the right places and say the right things and not give people a real reason to vote against him," Walters said. "He makes a plausible alternative for some people. The only question then is how many."

The Race Is On

When Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D) announced in March that he would retire rather than seek a sixth term, it was considered the starting gun for a wide-open race to succeed him.

Mfume waited just three days to announce. Cardin followed five weeks later, just as Mfume was confronted with allegations about his NAACP tenure. As Mfume lost time denying reports that he favored employees with whom he had romantic relationships, his campaign seemed to sputter.

In the weeks that followed, Cardin secured the backing of House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Southern Maryland and a string of other endorsements, as he raised more than $1 million. Mfume struggled to clear $130,000, a gap that has subsequently widened.