Just who is the man behind that Steele mask?

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Calling on one of my Sistagirls who lives in Baltimore County to get her take on the U.S. Senate race in Maryland, I got a response that pretty well sums up what may be the biggest problem for the Republican candidate, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.

"I like Michael Steele a lot personally, but I just don't know who he is or where he stands," said this black professional woman. "That's why I don't trust him." Now that he has attracted suitors with those EHarmony-like ads, the real Mr. Steele has to show up in person. He talks a good man-of-the-people game, but how will he play it?

When I reiterated my Sistagirl's nervous sentiments to Mr. Steele at a luncheon with editors and reporters at The Washington Times yesterday, he bristled at the very notion that he is an unknown quantity.

After all, he has been lieutenant governor of the Free State for almost four years, and he has raised the bar so high with his litany of pat-myself-on-the-back accomplishments that his successors "will actually have to work" in the ceremonial position henceforth, he said.

But the guessing game of the hour rests on whether Michael Steele is a right-wing Republican, an undercover moderate Democrat or a wannabe independent. Just where do this atypical candidate's political loyalties lie? Exactly who constitutes the core constituency to whom he will be beholden?

The street rap on Mr. Steele is that he is hard to read once you get past the friendly smile and platitudes, even for those who have spent time with him. He begs the question posed in those old hair-color commercials, "Does she or doesn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure."

I wish I could tell you for sure, one way or the other, about the man behind the steely mask. He definitely has the potential to morph into a hybrid politician, based on the conversations we have had, if he can break away from his big-bucks benefactors. More important, break away from those crude folks who characterize him as "just another Clarence Thomas," which he is not.

But it really is not my job to define Mr. Steele's nebulous candidacy. It is the ultimate Steele campaign challenge, and it hasn't been met well as he tries to beat Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, the Democrat vying to replace retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes.

Mr. Steele argues that he hasn't been given the chance to get out his message -- a hodgepodge of populist and conservative economic and social policies -- although he has visited nearly three-fourths of municipalities in the state.

He is right when he says too many partisan voters are content to stick with shallow labels, but you must offer them more than shallow stuff when you are up against fear, tradition and blind loyalty to a party that takes voters for granted.