Our Milbank Mystery poll had New Jersey's Tom Kean running neck-and-neck with Maryland's Michael Steele for hours, until a sudden afternoon rush of votes started feeding a lead for Steele. It didn't take long to figure out that the secret was out: Steele was the shadowy clandestine Republican Senate candidate who told Milbank that his party affiliation was "a hurdle I have to overcome" and "a scarlet letter." The Associated Press's Liz Sidoti broke the news and Steele's poll numbers surged to 38.5% until we flipped the kill switch. Kean got 21.1% of the vote, followed by Minnesota's Mark Kennedy at 10.9%. Curiously, 4.7% voted for Washington's Mike McGavick, despite the mystery candidate's reported eating of "hanger steak and risotto." McGavick (campaign slogan: "Mike!") doesn't need food like us mortals: He eats optimism and shits prosperity.

The big story here is that we - and you, dear reader - got totally played. Playing this two-day game of charades got him headlines like "Steele criticizes GOP," which are exactly what he needs to play for Maryland voters who hate George W. Bush almost as much as they hated Lincoln. Will it stop the state Democrats from xeroxing this Bush-Steele photo about 400 million times? Nope. But an 'A' for effort!

Poll: Milbank Mystery Chiller Theater [Wonkette]

Senate GOP Candidate Slams Party [ABC News]

-- David Weigel