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 wouldnt take off his Catholic scapula. Other boys would hit him during basketball games because he wouldnt disown his religion, as Castro demanded.
Mel came to this country under Kennedys Pedro Pan program. Imagine arriving in Miami with nothing, absolutely nothing!
Ill 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.
I think that in all likelihood it was Bush who made this decision.
Martinez voted FOR S 2611, the "Immigration Reform Bill from He double toothpicks".
His overall immigration voting record is a D from Americans for Better Immigration.
From Project Vote Smart...
2006 Senator Martinez supported the interests of the American Immigration Lawyers Association 100 percent in 2006.
The following organizations are for border and interior enforcement.
2005-2006 Senator Martinez supported the interests of the U.S. Border Control 10 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Martinez supported the interests of the Federation for American Immigration Reform 0 percent in 2005.
2003-2006 Senator Martinez supported the interests of the Americans for Better Immigration 12 percent in 2003-2006.
Also, from the Washington Times...Please note the part where Hagel-Martinez would put the illegals on a "path to citizenship".
The immigration reform bill that the Senate takes up today would more than double the flow of legal immigration into the United States each year and dramatically lower the skill level of those immigrants.
The number of extended family members that U.S. citizens or legal residents can bring into this country would double. More dramatically, the number of workers and their immediate families could increase sevenfold if there are enough U.S. employers looking for cheap foreign labor. Another provision would grant humanitarian visas to any woman or orphaned child anywhere in the world "at risk of harm" because of age or sex.
The little-noticed provisions are part of legislation co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Mel Martinez of Florida, which overcame some early stumbles and now has bipartisan support in the Senate. The bill also has been praised by President Bush, and he is expected to endorse it as a starting point for negotiations in his prime-time address to the nation tonight
All told, the Hagel-Martinez bill would increase the annual flow of legal immigrants into the U.S. to more than 2 million from roughly 1 million today, scholars and analysts say.
These proposed increases are in addition to the estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens already in the U.S. whom the bill would put on a path to citizenship. These figures also do not take into account the hundreds of thousands of additional immigrants who would be admitted to the U.S. each year under the guest-worker program that is part of the bill.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060515-122825-2467r.htm
I missed this, but it is a great move!!
>I think that in all likelihood it was Bush who made this decision.
He certainly would have supported it.
'a very successful and honest lawyer'- do we need any more lawyers there?
Very glad you did this. I see alot of people down on this choice without knowing much about the man.
Well, I hope you're right.
Thanks for posting that. While I can appreciate a friend's loyalty, I cannot support Mel. My intention is to vote against him next time he's up for re-election. He can be a nice guy back in the private sector.
susie
What happened to Michael Steele?
...And he is for amnesty too! Brilliant move!
Si se puede.
It seems rather incestuous for lawyers to be in charge of making laws....
susie
Agreed...the whiners need to shut up....see my tagline..
His life time ACU rating is 96% and it was 100% in 2005.
BTTT!
He's a good choice and a fine man!
Nothing against Senator Martinez, but I just wonder if he has the energy to devote to this job. I'm surprised he wanted it.
Do we need any more lawyers....
Ones like Mel, Adrian Cronauer, Bill McCollum, yes!
RINO
Bush seems to be a sucker for a great personal story. That's not leadership, and neither is Mel Martinez.
("beautiful wife" ... give me a break)
ping :^
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