I disagree. Steele was trying to blur the lines between being a Republican and a Democrat, trying to trick the leftists infesting Maryland into believing he was actually a Democrat. He ran an abysmal campaign and lost to the guy who turned Baltimore into a total hell-hole.
Ben Carden turned Baltimore into a total hell-hole? I mean, Carden was a brain dead, knee-jerk ultra liberal in the House, who has continued that reputation in the Senate, but I don't think he particuarly hurt Baltimore. Martin O'Malley, on the other hand, as mayor of Baltimore brought the morals of the Clintons and the ego and financial responsibility of Nancy Pelosi to the office of mayor of Baltimore City. But Steele has never run against him, to the best of my knowledge. Steele was Bob Ehrlich's running mate when Ehrlich beat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for governor in 2002, and lost his Senate camapign in 2006 to good-old-liberal Ben Carden.