Senator Martinez to step down in 2010

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez won't seek re-election

Martinez would have been campaigning for a midterm reelection bid in a drastically different political landscape than the one in which he was first elected. His seat was widely seen as vulnerable, but Martinez rejected suggestions he faced difficult prospects in a state won last month by Democrat Barack Obama.

"Some might try to characterize this decision in terms of political affairs. Some will say a re-election campaign would have been too difficult. But I've faced much tougher odds in political campaigns and in life. My decision was not based on reelection prospects, but on what I want to do with the next eight years of my life."

Floridans just don't like Mel

Via The Politico, "Democrats Smell Blood in Florida":

The 2010 Senate election cycle has barely started, but the Democrats’ top target has already emerged: Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida.

His popularity is sagging due to his long-standing ties to President George W. Bush, his high-profile advocacy for immigration reform that alienated conservatives, and his tumultuous nine-month stint last year as chairman of the Republican National Committee, which did little to burnish his image, either within his own party or among independents and Democrats.

A November Quinnipiac poll showed a 38 percent plurality of Florida voters believe Martinez doesn’t deserve another term, while only 36 percent believe he should be reelected. Against an unnamed Democratic opponent, Martinez trails by 4 points, 40 percent to 36 percent.

Martinez resigns as RNC "national chairman"

As of today:

Mel Martinez, the public face of the Republican National Committee as its general chairman, announced Friday he was stepping down from his post after serving only 10 months.

"I believe that our future as a party and nation is bright and I have every intention of continuing to fight for our president, our party and our candidates," the Florida senator said in a statement.

His resignation came months earlier than anticipated. Martinez wasn't expected to step down until a Republican presidential nominee was selected, and the earliest that could occur is February.

The RNC said Martinez' job would not be filled.

Martinez said he was relinquishing the job to spend more time focusing on his constituents and because the RNC had achieved the objective he set when he assumed the job in January.

"It was my goal as general chairman to lead the party as it established the structure and raised the resources necessary to support our presidential candidate and ensure Republican victories next November. I believe we have accomplished those goals," Martinez said.

He has shared the chairmanship with Mike Duncan, a longtime RNC official who has been responsible for the party's day-to-day operations. Republican officials say with Martinez' departure, the RNC will return to a traditional leadership structure with a single chairman.

President Bush named Martinez, a prominent Hispanic who previously served in the Cabinet, as general chairman last November.

He had been reluctant to assume the role and did so only after repeated White House overtures. When he accepted the job, he had indicated to friends that he anticipated serving only about a year in the post.

The first-term senator was brought on to be the face of the party, focusing on fundraising, outreach and travel to promote the GOP agenda.

A Martinez fan weighs in: Martinez "crucified over hate"

Via FAIR Immigration Reform Movement:

[Martinez] was admittedly put in a terribly difficult position on the comprehensive immigration reform bill, and at some level he crashed and burned with the legislation.

But let us not be too hasty as to think that his failure on the legislation was all due to his own missteps. Sure, he made mistakes. But it was clear that key members of the RNC were going to use him as a punching bag on this issue to protect themselves.

Put a latino in power, and then crucify him on “his own” issue.

Mel adds a 4th title

during an immigration debate at Notre Dame reaired on CSPAN last night:

Sen. Martinez, who emigrated from Cuba at age 15 and is the first Cuban-American to serve in the U.S. Senate, emphasized the fact that he is the only immigrant in the Senate and that he recognizes a crisis in confidence in the U.S. government.

"We must have national conversations to enact comprehensive legislation as a nation harkening our history as a nation of immigrants and as a nation of laws," he said. "A comprehensive approach at the federal level is what is needed."

Mel Martinez can now choose from among the following titles, depending upon his audience: U.S. Senator, General Chairman of the Republican National Committee, only immigrant in the U.S. Senate and, last but not least, spokesman for every Hispanic in America.

Martinez doesn't care what his constituents think -- USA Today

Via USA Today:

By one measure, the DREAM Act would seem the least controversial of the three: When the Senate Judiciary Committee considered it in 2003, the vote in favor was 16-3.

The opposition this year is enough to raise doubts about whether it or any piece of the immigration act can become law in the current Congress.

"I just don't think the political wherewithal is there to do it," says Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., the party's national chairman.

He supported the immigration overhaul but isn't sure he'll back relief for illegal immigrant children as a separate issue.

And though Martinez says it hasn't affected his stance, he says he received "a flood of letters and phone calls" opposing the DREAM Act when Durbin tried to add it to the defense authorization bill last month [emphasis added].

Note: the two years of higher education required by the DREAM Act to stay in America need not be in English.

Conservative Belle: A Republican should be the next RNC Chairman

Conservative Belle has some good suggestions for the post-Martinez Republican National Committee:

The party needs new leadership, leadership which reflects the views of those who support the organization. Many conservatives, myself included, have declined to contribute any more money or sustain an active membership in the national party because of their inability to effectively acknowledge the lack of border enforcement and the growing illegal immigration problem in our country.

Instead I got a lot of email traffic asking for more money because of the outrageous things the Democrats are saying/doing. I'd be more inclined to contribute if they instead said they needed the money to proliferate a strong message by the RNC that border security is a priority issue. ...

We should be able to demonstrate fiscal conservatism and restraint of government growth in our actions, not just our rhetoric. And when Republicans who do demonstrate that (Senators DeMint, Coburn) idealism, we should applaud it, not shun it.

New 2008 Republican Logo?



Hat tip: Andy at Residual Forces blog

Orlando Sentinel: An Anti-Martinez Conspiracy?

The editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel frets that "Mel Martinez just took over as Republican National Chairman in January, and he's already planning his exit early next year. Was this his plan all along, or is he getting pushed out by GOP leaders?"

Let's see: Mel Martinez has blasted his fellow Republican Senators for their failure to support his amnesty bill; denounced his own party's frontrunners for the 2008 presidential nomination for their failure to support amnesty; and agreed to lead the fight for U.S. statehood for Spanish-only Puerto Rico in the U.S. Senate.

Plus, Republican party fundraising is way down, the GOP does not dare send out fundraising letters signed by its own "National Chairman," and the RNC is in rebellion.

Yep, sounds like a conspiracy to me.

Mel Martinez, like some other loyalists to George W. Bush, was given a job in which he proceeded not to perform well. Now his Senate seat is in danger and he still has yet to figure out if he is representing Florida, the White House or every Hispanic in the Western Hemisphere.

Martinez to soon depart from his RNC post?

Bob Novak says yes in his column today:

SEN. Mel Martinez of Florida, named general chairman of the Republican Party only nine months ago, has advised associates that he will leave the post as soon as somebody clinches the party's presidential nomination.

When Martinez took the party post Jan. 19, it was expected he would stay on through the 2008 elections as the GOP's principal national spokesman. Many Republicans now grumble that Martinez has been ineffective in that role.

While it is not unusual, at least since the Goldwater nomination in 1964, for the party nominee to install his own RNC chairman, there are hints that Martinez has volunteered to leave in order to avoid being shown the door. As Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times wrote on September 11th:

Martinez was tapped less than a year ago to head the RNC, but his name rarely shows up on e-mails and mailings from the RNC, and questions are mounting among both Republicans and Democrats about his effectiveness as chairman.

Just last month Martinez attacked the two top Republican presidential candidates, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney, for opposing and mischaracterizing the Senate bill. But even on that, he stands at odds with his own party. Just two weeks earlier, the RNC had voted to embrace an enforcement-first strategy toward handling illegal immigration -- a policy much closer to Giuliani and Romney than it is to the president.

And if some e-mailers are to be beleived, Martinez is hurting the RNC right in the pocketbook:

I received a call from the RNC the other evening asking for a contribution. I told the woman that I will give no money to the RNC until Mel Martinez is gone. I am a Conservative Republican from Florida and, unfortunately, voted for Mel last time, but never again! We will work to defeat him in Florida!!! With a friend like him, who needs enemies?