Steele Admits He Criticized GOP in Interview

Unnamed Candidate Said Being Republican Was Like Wearing 'Scarlet Letter'

By John Wagner and Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writers

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's Senate campaign acknowledged yesterday that he was the anonymous candidate quoted by a Washington Post political reporter as saying that being a Republican was like wearing a "scarlet letter" and that he did not want President Bush to campaign for him this fall.