The Washington Post is reporting that Melhman is stepping aside and that this move was planned regardless of how things went in the mid-term elections. In case you haven’t been following, the Republicans were thumped.

From the WaPo:

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who guided President Bush’s reelection campaign to victory in 2004 and saw his party suffer the loss of the House and Senate on Tuesday, will not seek a second term as party leader, informed sources said last night.

Mehlman is leaving his position voluntarily and has not come under any pressure from the White House or state party leaders to vacate his position as a result of Tuesday’s elections. According to a Republican strategist familiar with developments at the RNC, Mehlman told the White House in August that he would leave after the elections.

Mehlman met with reporters yesterday to review the midterm elections at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor and was asked whether he planned to stay on as party chairman. He declined to answer directly but said, “I will announce soon what my plan is in the future.”

It is being reported by the Washington Times that Lt. Governor of Maryland, Michael Steele, has been offered the job. Steele was recently thumped by Senator-elect Ben Cardin (D-MD) and to the best of my knowledge, Steele has yet to officially concede that race.

This has nothing to do with Bill Maher officially “outting” Mr. Melhman on CNN, right?

From the WaPo:

Inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in Prince George’s County this morning.The ballots were handed out by people who said they arrived by buses this morning from Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Erik Markle, one of the people handing out literature for Ehrlich, who is seeking reelection, and Steele, the current lieutenant governor who is campaigning to replace retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D), said he was recruited at a homeless shelter in Philadelphia.

Read the rest of the article here.

Well, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) slapped him down today with a great response ad. I am not sure on the size of the ad buy, but let’s hope this is being seen all over Maryland.

Vote Ben Cardin.

Tuesday’s primary election night in Maryland lasted into the wee hours of the night, but it is now official: Congressman Ben Cardin is the Democratic nominee and will take on Lt. Gov. Michael Steele in November’s general election.

Cardin defeated former Congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume to win the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes. Check out DoubleSpeak’s recent interview with Representative Cardin.

DoubleSpeak will follow this race intensely and we will bring you up-to date news, polls and analysis as we charge towards November.

From The Washington Post:

“I know that we are united,” Cardin told the Associated Press. He said he and Mfume “ran a campaign that wasn’t about our election, it was about November’s election. We need to change the direction of the country. We had two people running who shared the same commitment.”

Mfume had appeared before his supporters shortly after 1:30 a.m. and all but conceded the race, calling Cardin his friend and saying that “he’ll be a damn good senator.”

A recent Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies poll had Congressman Ben Cardin leading Kweisi Mfume by an impressive 13 points. However, a new Survey USA poll just released today has Mfume up by 4 on Cardin.

Hmmm, we’ll find out soon enough who will win this critical primary in Maryland. Check out DoubleSpeak Episode Eight featuring an interview with Mfume and stay tuned for Episode Nine which will feature Congressman Cardin.

As I sit here and post, I’ve seen two Steele ads. The Lt. Governor will be tough to beat and Democrats in Maryland are going to have to coalesce quickly and work hard to win in November.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele yesterday said his U.S. Senate campaign aims to bring “the ‘hood” with him to Capitol Hill.

“The ‘hood is going to show up on the Hill,” said Mr. Steele, a black Republican. “That is what this campaign is all about, and that scares some people when I say stuff like that — on both sides of the aisle, God bless them.”

He said he delivered a similar message to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican supporting Mr. Steele’s candidacy.

“I told him, ‘Be careful what you wish for — a brother shows up, I bring people,’?” Mr. Steele said to about 70 supporters at the opening of his state campaign headquarters in Temple Hills. “You have all had one of those picnics, right?”

Michael Steele is going to lose this race, but if he keeps making comments like this, at least we will be able to enjoy his long-shot candidacy. Steele will likely face either Kweisi Mfume or Rep. Ben Cardin, depending on who wins the September primary.

This is not a good sign for Steele, who has had off-and-on momentum in this race.

Check out the Democrats running to retain Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D) Seat:

Ben Cardin

Lise Van Susteren

Kweisi Mfume

Allan Lichtman

Dennis Rasmussen