High profile Republican stumps for McCain

STAUNTON — As the first African-American to serve as lieutenant governor of Maryland, Michael Steele is understandably proud of Democrat Barack Obama’s candidacy for president.

But the conservative Steele worries about a President Obama joining forces with the Democratic leadership of the House and Senate and the taxes and spending he believes that would bring.

“I don’t want Uncle Sam to come and stay in my house,’’ Steele said Thursday during a campaign stop in Staunton for Republican presidential nominee John McCain. “Don’t get in my way while I create enterprise and wealth.”

Steele said a limited government is best. “Government does not create wealth, you do,’’ he said.

And while Steele acknowledges Obama’s gifts as an orator, he disagrees with a philosophy of taxation “that lets government pick the winners and losers.”

He said McCain has shown great determination in winning the Republican nomination after being down.

“He should be president. He won’t give up,’’ Steele said,

McCain will deal ably with the country’s defense and the economy, Steele said.

“He is a leader not waiting to get tested by our enemies,’’ Steele said.

If Obama is elected, Steele said, the government system of checks and balances will be trumped by Democratic leadership in the executive and legislative branches.

“The House and Senate will run roughshod over Obama. He does not know how the system works,’’ Steele said. “The checks and balances will go away.”

A former seminarian in the Catholic Order of St. Augustine, Steele said there are parallels between serving in the church and in government.

“People come to the church for guidance and help, and come to the government for guidance and help,’’ he said. After serving as Maryland’s lieutenant governor, Steele ran for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2006, losing to Rep. Ben Cardin.

Today, Steele serves as chairman of GOPAC, a political action committee that helps fund state and local Republican campaigns around the country.

Steele was introduced by 6th District Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who will spend the weekend campaigning for re-election across the district

Goodlatte told the crowd at Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant it is important “to get all of the Shenandoah Valley to the polls’’ on election day so that McCain wins Virginia.