Angling for Hip-Hop Appeal

Russell Simmons and Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele meet with students, including Seth Ragin, 6, at an event at the Laurel Boys and Girls Club. (By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's credibility with a pivotal constituency -- African American voters -- got a boost yesterday when hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons got behind his U.S. Senate bid.

"It's extremely significant," said Donna Brazile, a Democratic political strategist. "It says that Michael Steele is someone who is comfortable with youth voters and minority voters."

Yesterday's heavily promoted announcement was just the latest example of how one of the nation's highest-ranking black Republican office holders is trying to balance two aspects of his life -- his race and his political party. Standing beside Simmons, Steele happily embraced the label "hip-hop Republican."

That title is the essence of Steele's delicate campaign strategy to draw votes from Maryland's large pool of black voters while retaining financial and Election Day support from another minority group in the state, conservative Republicans.

He might, for instance, be the only politician in America to have had fundraisers hosted this year by Russell Simmons and Dick Cheney.

Simmons, in turn, might just be the only host to throw fundraisers for both Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Michael Steele.

"I'm from hip-hop, how can I give in to la-

bels?" asked Simmons, who as co-founder of Def Jam Records has been at the forefront of hip-hop's ascendance, as well as efforts to register black voters.

Simmons said he first came to Maryland four years ago to campaign against Steele, but Steele won him over. "Every time we've had a discussion, it boils downs to the same two things: education and opportunity," Simmons said. "The lieutenant governor is clear on his mission."

Steele's message of black empowerment -- that African Americans no longer want a seat at the lunch counter, they want to own the diner -- has resonated with Simmons and with Cathy L. Hughes, founder of Radio One, one of the nation's most successful black-owned radio networks.

Hughes's name appeared on the invitation for a fundraiser last night in Baltimore, but she did not attend.

Support from these icons of black popular culture could help burnish Steele's image for political dexterity. He almost never invokes his deep GOP roots on the trail and launched his first television ad this week pledging to "talk straight about what's wrong in both parties."