Goodbye "Deep Throat," Hello "French Cuffs"

Washingtonians are suckers for political intrigue, and there was a new mystery today:

Which Republican Senate candidate was dissing his president, complaining to reporters under a cloak of anonymity that George W. Bush is a big drag on his '06 candidacy?

Only in Washington could this kind of mystery even happen. Only in Washington, with its bizarre and fungible rules about the permitted use of anonymous sources, would a Senate candidate -- somebody running in the open for high public office -- sit down for a very public meal with nine (yes, nine) political reporters, and gripe about his president on the condition that he not be named. And then he persisted with that proviso even after Senate GOP leader Bill Frist dropped by and saw him sitting there, holding court with the nine reporters -- all of whom agreed to the deal, perhaps figuring that this insight into his real thoughts would help them write with more knowledgeable nuance about his public rhetoric.

Still, perhaps Anonymous' voters in his Anonymous state might have wanted to know what their Republican candidate really thought...

About the Bush administration's performance during Katrina: "A monumental failure...In Katrina, the president is at 30,000 feet in an airplane looking down at people dying, living on a bridge. And that disconnect, I think, sums up, for me at least, the frustration that Americans feel."

Or about Bush administration failures in Iraq, which he calls "the single thread that is weaving through every issue....People want an honest assessment from the administration, and they want to hear the administration admit we thought this, and it didn't happen that way, and -- guess what -- it didn't work, so we're going to try a Plan B. Let's call it what it is. We thought this was going to be a different kind of engagement."

Or about whether he wants Bush to come to his state and stump for him: "To be honest with you, probably not."

Or about the high-spending, low-achieving, polarized Republican Congress: "We've lost our way... the spending, the finger-pointing, not getting the bills passed. Just shut up and get something done."

So who was this mystery man who lamented wearing the Republican label ("It's an impediment. It's a hurdle I have to overcome. I've got an 'R' here, a scarlet letter")?" This had the political world in a tizzy today, with the bloggers naturally on board. Wonkette was even running a poll.

The nominees started with incumbent Jim Talent of Missouri, who's getting roasted in his state because centrist voters there support federal stem-cell research, which Bush vetoed last week. But Missouri is a red state (or it was, anyway, in '00 and '04), and Anonymous seemed to imply that he's laboring in a blue state.

Another nominee was candidate Thomas Kean Jr. of New Jersey, who recently insisted that a traffic jam was the reason why he didn't show up at a fundraiser that featured Dick Cheney. But Anonymous said at one point that he agreed with Bush's stem-cell veto. Kean does not agree.

Another was candidate Mark Kennedy of blue-state Minnesota, who is five points down in the latest state poll, and who managed, in his latest campaign ad, to skip the fact that he's a three-term member of the GOP Congress. But Kennedy is not considered a clothing dandy, as opposed to Anonymous, who was depicted by the Washington Post as having "his French cuffs sprouting cuff links coordinated with his necktie."

Another nominee was incumbent Mike DeWine of Ohio, who always manages to be busy when Bush drops into his state. That has already happened four times. But, again, Ohio has not been a blue state.

So what about Maryland Senate candidate Michael Steele, the current lieutenant governor? He dresses sharp. He's struggling to win in a very blue state. He lives near Washington D.C., hence he can pop in for lunch. And best of all, Anonymous' gripe about Bush and Katrina was similar even in phrasing to a remark that columnist Robert Novak attributed to Steele last May.

And if it is Michael Steele (can this really stay a secret? and should it?), there is also one other factor well worth noting: He is African-American. If indeed his candidacy is in trouble -- he's trailing the two most viable Democrats in the polls -- that would be further proof that this year's oft-repeated story line about "the rise of the black Republicans" is a crock.

I have been repeatedly tempted this year to write "the rise of" story, but whenever I gear up, I ultimately shut down, having digested the latest evidence -- that Lynn Swann's gubernatorial candidacy in Pennsylvania peaked the day he announced; that Ken Blackwell's gubernatorial candidacy in Ohio is threatening to tank (he's now down by 20 points); and, now again, that Michael Steele might be lamenting his fate as a carrier of Bush baggage....OK, I'll emphasize might. Here's a pic of Steele. Are those French cuffs I see?

UPDATE: The envelope, please...And the winner is Steele. His office confirmed late in the day that he is indeed the mystery malcontent.