I know both McCollum and Martinez personally, so I have a pretty good idea what they stand for. McCollum used to be my Congressman. As a lawyer in Orlando, I used to deal with Martinez on the opposite side. Martinez was a good lawyer, and he has for the last 8 years or so been an effective governmental servant.
No matter what you think of their positions on the issues, there is one thing that ought to be clear: The Republican candidate is going to have an uphill climb against the Dem candidate. McCollum has a good base here in Orlando, but it's Miami that will decide who wins. Martinez also has a good base in Orlando, but he has a good base in Miami as well. Every South Florida Hispanic voter who votes for Martinez is another Hispanic voter who will not be voting for Castor. Also, Martinez will put votes in Bush's column for the same reason. The more conservative Cubans who show up to vote in November, the higher Bush's tally will be.
You're right about the uphill climb.... so shouldn't be true that the one we have run against the libs be best suited to be a Senator? Bill McCollum was a congressman for 20 years, founded the taskforce on Terrorism, and helped Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich pass economic expansion.... the list goes on. Electibility is a bogus issue for Martinez.... anyone that says he's "more electible" is 100% a racist statement saying that the hispanics will vote based on his last name. I know he lost in 2000, but Ronald Reagan, George Bush 41 and 43, Jeb Bush, etc... all lost elections before winning. 9/11 has created a need for Bill McCollum in the U.S. Senate, not some RINO trial lawyer who needs "on-the-job" training.
The fact is that Bill McCollum could have real traction with Broward County Jewish voters based on Betty Castor's terrorist appeasement of Al-Arian at USF. This is a different racial issue, because Bill is a regular contributor to many pro-Israel efforts and has written many local editorial articles. Martinez is incredibly underqualified, unaccomplished, a RINO trial-lawyer. The DNC has already started attacking Bush based on the fact that a Republican Trial Lawyer is running for Senate. This hurts Bush's attack on John Edwards... its creating a hypocritical situation for us... and he needs to lose. Its a shame that he's getting a lot of support because of his last name.