Posted on 11/13/2006 3:17:45 PM PST by MindBender26
Please pardon the Vanity, but Mel Martinez is a friend and I thought FReepers might like some insight in him.
Mel Martinez and his wife Kitty are outstanding people. Mel was born in Cuba. At 10 and 11 years old, with Castro in power, he wouldn’t take off his Catholic scapula. Other boys would hit him during basketball games because he wouldn’t disown his religion, as Castro demanded.
Mel came to this country under Kennedy’s Pedro Pan program. Imagine arriving in Miami with nothing, absolutely nothing!
I’ll cut to the chase; 25 years later, a very successful and honest lawyer, he has the happiest day of his life when he and his beautiful wife, and their kids, welcome his mother on her escape from Cuba, into the house they bought for her.
In 2000, he was recruited to run for he House seat being vacated by Bill McCollum, but said no, because he didn't want to be away from his family 3 nights a week.
When the RNC needed someone to debate Charlie Rangel, Fidel Castro's favorite congressman, on Larry King Live on CNN, we recruited Mel with just a few hours warning. Mel was the Orange County [Orlando area] mayor at the time and Rangel made the fatal mistake of underestimating him. After 60 minutes of debate, not even Larry King's "assistance" could help Rangel score even one point against Mel. In plain English, on the issue of the Elian Gonzalez, Mel Martinez had Charlie Rangel for lunch on live TV!
The Bush family saw him on Larry King and the rest is history. The president chose Mel to be HUD Secretary in his new administration, and in what is probably one of the toughest jobs in Washington, was the most successful HUD secretary was seen in 30 years.
Mel then returned to Florida and ran an uphill battle to be our senator. He beat a reasonably strong opponent, and even more importantly than that, never once veered away from his long-held principles. He is an adamant opponent of abortion, understands that the most important thing in America today is to defeat terrorism and return a sense of personal responsibility to each and every American.
I had the pleasure of flying with Mel back to Washington the day after the election. Trust me on this one, he sharp, conservative, understands the issues better than 99% of the people in Washington... and most importantly, has seen the vicious or press the nature of communism and other leftist governments up close. If there is one man in the United States that Hugo Chavez fears more than anyone else, it's Mel Martinez.... and it would be a smart if the Islamic terrorists and their fellow travelers feared him too!
There are many more wonderful things Mel has done during his career in public life, and before but I won't go into them here.
With the Hispanic vote critically important for any success in any future national election, (and growing faster than the Black vote) , the selection of Mel Martinez as a new RNC chair is a brilliant move.
And I think you should mind your own business and butt out of replies to other posters.
No kidding. The GOP can read the election returns with the best of them. The most ominous return was a drop of almost 10 percentage points in the Hispanic vote. Note further that rabid anti-immigration candidates Graf and Haynesworth lost in GOP-friendly districts in Arizona. Let me repeat that: Arizona. That's the future of the GOP in a nutshell, unless it begins actively competing for Hispanic votes. Welcome to political reality.
Wow, you've destroyed me now.
Nothing more I'd rather do that post back and forth with somebody who makes an issue of illegals on EVERY TOPIC.
http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=MFL76642&type=category&category=Conservative
susie
This definitely goes into the "you learn something new every day" department.
Don't know if anyone will be able to convince you otherwise, but we have to be practical in dealing with the undocumented influx of foreigners. I don't think amnesty is intended to be a blank check for anyone out there. There are qualifications. I also do not think it is practical to adopt a policy that says, in effect, "Round 'em up and kick 'em out now!"
If it is true Martinez took up this vocation in order to make known conservative, constitutional principles to those with whom we have difficulty speaking, then how can that be a bad idea? Most Cubans and Mexicans who come to this country are hard working people who do not expect hand outs. Granted, there are many who fit a different picture.
But we have to deal practically with the facts at hand. Moreover, we ought to declare and teach the freedoms we enjoy in any and every language.
I am in no position to judge this man's qualifications in terms of the specific duties he must perform as head of the GOP. But in general it makes sense to have someone who understands and appreciates conservative principles. A 90% plus ACU rating does not mark the man as a detriment as far as his convictions are concerned.
LOL!!
oh really?
thanks for the laugh...
I use CAPS because I too lazy to use the bold tags...
;-)
so what is not important to you?
Security?
Amnesty?
Job Market?
Public services? (such as hospitals and schools)
Economy?
Small business owners?
American citizens rights to have their vote count, and not be cancelled by illegals flooding the borders?
I'm convinced - the Republican party has committed suicide.
That's just ridiculous.
BTW, are you under the impression that it's no longer the RNC, but rather the CNC?
>Martinez is a RINO and NOT a friend of conservatives. Bush might as well have appointed John McVain or Teddy Chappaquiddick to run the RNC as Mel Martinez.
Do you have any idea how foolish that statement made you look? The man has a 100% ACU rating, and you call him a RINO. Of course, you probably could never stand that liberal RINO Ronald Reagan either.
:~(
I wasn't going to post to you again, however you have posted something I did not say, as if I said it. Did you just get a little excited?
susie
In addition to illegal immigration, he is against offshore drilling, something we are getting anyway with China drilling off Cuba soon.
Well, you certainly did your part tearing the party down, didn't you?
Don't tell that to the Tancredo crowd.
Also don't tell them that every single person who made immigration a centerpiece of their campaign lost.
They don't like hearing it and come up with every excuse on the book as to why we really lost because we weren't tough ENOUGH on immigration.
And considering they essentially want to ban all immigration, legal or illegal, for the forseeable future, I don't quite know how much harder we can be short of shooting them on sight. (might not want to give them any ideas, now that I think of it)
How utterly uninteresting.
Obviously, the point was not that Martinez's wife is unattractive, but rather that that fact is irrelevant.
great comeback on the facts there.....
I think that's a question they'd better answer fairly quickly.
Also, if you have any influence, they need to get a job for Michael Steele. The Ambassador to the European Union position will be vacant in January as it was a recess appointment. That may be an ideal opportunity for him to gain foreign policy experience.
Regards, Ivan
Bwa Ha Ha!
Try Guetzloe. The Orlando political consultant who gets paid by public tax money to "keep silent" during bond ballot initiatives!
What's your $ take on this issue MB?
Like I stated on another post...
Thank God we're not being invaded by illegal Scottish aliens.
Can you imagine Arlen Sphincter (Spector) heading up the RNC?
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