Steele Campaign Seen in Disarray

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, left, who is running for the U.S. Senate, attended a rally last week in Annapolis with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (By Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)

Professional staffers, including Alcivar, argued that it was unwise for Steele to try to "go about his business" until September, the sources said.

The dispute came to a head with Steele's stem cell blunder at the Baltimore Jewish Council last week. The Steele loyalists said he should not have been dissecting the issue, especially with a reporter in the room.

Stem cell research was particularly ill-suited for a dialogue, the loyalists said, because it draws attention to Steele's anti-abortion stance and raises the potential for him to publicly differ with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).

The professional staffers argued that, had Steele been better prepared to face unanticipated questions, he might have avoided the kind of lengthy, stream-of-consciousness reply that left him equating the research to Holocaust experimentation.

Those closely monitoring the race said the resulting firestorm has left some Marylanders, and some national Republicans who have considered pouring cash into his Senate bid, reexamining whether Steele is ready for the race.

Although national Republican leaders including the president aggressively courted Steele to run for the open Maryland seat this year, his actual campaign experience is limited. He ran once, unsuccessfully, in a GOP primary for state comptroller in 1998 before being tapped as Ehrlich's running mate in 2002.

Jennifer E. Duffy, an analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said the events of the past few weeks have made it "fairly clear that he has limited experience as a candidate.

"When you get into a Senate campaign and you're out there on your own, it's a whole different ballgame," Duffy said.

Chuck Todd, editor-in-chief of The Hotline, a political newsletter, said signs of inexperience might have gone unnoticed had Steele not been running in a major media market in a race that has been touted by national GOP leaders as their best chance in years to bring an African American Republican to the U.S. Senate.

"In some ways, the national party brought this upon Steele by hyping his campaign so much, so early," Todd said. "They forgot this was a guy who has run one other campaign ever."

Those who remain with the campaign said yesterday that that view is not shared by national party leaders. And they are undeterred by any unrest at campaign headquarters.

"There's no end to anonymous sources who are happy to speak poorly about candidates running for office. I'm not able to change that," Anderson said. "But I would say this: I really like where he is in this thing right now."

For now, Alcivar's departure may resolve any power struggle. Steele aides said they plan to replace him, and former campaign manager Graham Shafer, with more accommodating operatives, perhaps even Democrats, who have a willingness to buck the strategic instincts of Washington's consultant class.