Steele knocks Hoyer for ‘‘slavishly” comment

U.S. Senate candidates trade jabs at Maryland chamber’s winter meeting in Ocean City

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006

OCEAN CITY — Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele rapped a high-ranking Democratic official on Tuesday for his comment that he “slavishly follows the Republican Party.”

“At some point, I expect Ben Cardin to tell his team to sit down and shut up,” Steele said.

Steele, a Republican, is in a hotly contested race for U.S. Senate with Cardin, a Democratic congressman.

“He’ll read anything he can into anything someone says so he doesn’t have to talk about the issues,” Cardin said, after being told of his remarks.

The “slavishly” comment came in an MSNBC report that was posted Tuesday on its Web site. The report includes this passage:

“Cardin, a dry and detailed-oriented career legislator, was upstaged at his Upper Marlboro event Sunday by the irrepressible Rep. Steny Hoyer, who did a comedy routine about the event’s host, Cool Wave Water, and told the audience that Steele had had ‘a career of slavishly supporting the Republican Party.’”

Steele and Cardin were in Ocean City this week for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s winter meeting. Each candidate answered questions from the chamber, but did not interact.

"I shouldn't have used those words," Hoyer (D-Dist. 5) of Mechanicsville said in a statement. “If Mr. Steele did in fact take offense let us assure him none was intended. But Mr. Steele continuously tries to direct attention away from the fact that he's an unwavering supporter of the Republican agenda of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.”

His office also supplied this comment, from Melvin Forbes, the CEO of Cool Wave Water, the event’s organizer: “This was largely an African-American audience and there was absolutely no offense taken or noticed. It was obvious that Steny was simply talking about Steele's constant support for the Republican agenda."

At the conference, Steele and Cardin offered their positions on health insurance, Social Security and other topics.

Steele said he favored making Social Security flexible enough so his mother and his teen-age son could both benefit from the program. Cardin said allowing young people to opt out of Social Security would cost the system $1.4 trillion.

The health insurance question referred to the General Assembly’s attempt to get mega retailer Wal-Mart to spend more on coverage for its employees. Steele said the government has no place telling businesses how to provide for their employees. Cardin said employers should be tired of competing with companies that don’t provide health insurance for their employees.

The lieutenant governor rolled out a new television ad that criticizes Cardin for taking the most special interest money than any other Maryland congressman. “Ben Cardin won’t change Washington. He’ll fit right in,” Steele says in the ad.

Steele deflected any questions about his own contributions from special interests. “Talk to me after I cast a vote,” he said in an exchange with reporters.

In a separate exchange, Cardin said he stood by his record supporting consumers and senior citizens against oil and pharmaceutical companies. The two-day conference also included an exchange between attorney general candidates Douglas F. Gansler (D) and Scott L. Rolle (R), who both tried to lay out pro-business agendas.

The candidates were asked about recent cases in which legislation passed by the General Assembly was overturned in state or federal court.

One of the cases, the Wal-Mart legislation, was called “repugnant to the Constitution” in a federal court ruling, Rolle said. “We can’t be passing laws — we can’t have an attorney general’s office helping pass those laws — that are repugnant to the Constitution.”

Gansler said he had read only one of the opinions that supported the overturned legislation, and he found it “outrageous.”

“The fact that they were overturned by a judge doesn’t mean they were wrong. That’s why we have appellate courts,” Gansler said.

Gansler also said he did not think the legislature should unfairly inject itself into the flow of business. “Let the free market work itself out,” he said.

At one point, the gubernatorial candidates were expected to attend conference, but they backed out last week. While administration officials were present — indirectly supporting Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s re-election — the conference had few if any representatives from Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley.

“I think it’s a missed opportunity [for the O’Malley campaign],” chamber President and CEO Kathleen T. Snyder said. “It’s a missed opportunity for both campaigns.”

The comptroller candidates also were expected to attend a candidates forum, but only one showed. Del. Peter V.R. Franchot (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park had a previous commitment, a campaign aide said. Anne M. McCarthy, the Republican candidate, did appear and said she would work for tax reform and relief. The state suffers from a hodgepodge of taxes, she said.