Just a hunch. Steele sets up an off-the-record meal with national reporters in order to try to persuade them that he can win the race, so that their coverage will reflect that view. In the process of making that case, he explains that he understands that being tied to Bush is a liability in Maryland and that running with a capital-R would not be smart. If he didn’t make such points, the reporters would think that he was in denial about things that a successful candidate would know. But because he made those points, they became the focus of one of the stories arising from the meal–which didn’t help him at all.