The Baltimore Sun

                           November 9, 2005 Wednesday
                                 FINAL EDITION

SECTION: LOCAL; 2b; Pg. 2B

LENGTH: 732 words

HEADLINE: Maybe they should have used another coat

BYLINE: LAURA VOZZELLA

BODY:

   You're a politician running for higher office. You schlep over to yet another
event, this one celebrating the launch of a new business. But instead of an
oversized pair of scissors and a ribbon to snip, you find women wearing nothing
on top but body paint.

   You:

   A) Watch your political career flash before your eyes.

   B) Thank God one more time for steering you out of the seminary and into
politics.

   C) Issue the following statement after the press catches wind of it:

   "Lt. Governor Steele was attending a minority business's launch party at the
American Visionary Art Museum. He was not aware that such entertainment would be
present. He is a staunch advocate of minority businesses and wishes B Magazine
well."

   The answer is C. (Which doesn't necessarily exclude A or B, but that's all I
got out of Steele's spokesman.)

   Someone with more to say about the matter was Rob Redding, a Washington Times
reporter who posted video from the party on his Web site under the title: "Steele
Included in Nude Video."

   The video, originally on the magazine's Web site, shows party guests and the
painted women described as "body art sculptures" by B publisher Antoine Friend
inside the museum. It also shows Steele, who appears to be on the sidewalk out
front, saying, "This is a great moment. I'm glad to be here as part of this
launch."

   Redding railed on his site against the "devout Catholic with a degree in
divinity" for "calling the risqué event 'a great moment.'"

   Redding's paper had a different slant. In a short news item, The Times
suggested the whole thing was a set-up to tarnish Steele as he launched his bid
for Senate. The headline: "Curious timing."

Copyright 2005 The Baltimore Sun Company