If former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) was as well-received by voters in the 2006 Senate race as he was by Republican convention delegates Wednesday evening, he would probably be the junior Senator from his home state rather than the chairman of GOPAC, a Republican organization.

Steele received a resounding standing ovation as he took the stage of the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., that was accompanied by chants of “Michael … Steele; Michael … Steele.”

Steele, who is black, offered in his remarks a full-throated endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), repeatedly asking the audience: “Do you want to put your country first?” and answering their cries of “Yes!” with answers that covered a range of campaign topics, including energy, which was a much-covered issue in several of the speeches delivered to this point in the evening.

“So, do you want to put your country first? Then let’s reduce our dependency on foreign sources of oil and promote oil and gas production at home,” Steele said. “Then let me make it clear: Drill, baby, drill! And drill now!”