Posted on 11/14/2006 7:57:36 PM PST by STARWISE
Sen. Mel Martinez, who will become the new general chairman of the Republican Party after it lost control of Congress, said on Tuesday he would not be an "attack dog" in the 2008 White House race.
President Bush gave Martinez his blessing at a meeting in the Oval Office, calling the Cuban-born senator an American success story.
"He's going to be an excellent spokesman for the Republican Party," Bush said. "He'll be a person who'll be able to carry our message as we go into an important year in 2008."
Martinez will keep his U.S. Senate seat representing Florida and be the voice of the Republican Party going into the presidential election campaign season.
The day-to-day operations will be run by Mike Duncan, who will be chairman. Both have to be formally elected by the Republican National Committee in January.
Martinez said the contest should be about "a battle of ideas" and not partisanship. He said there was an agreement not to show preferences for any candidate in the 2008 presidential campaign before the party's nominee was chosen, allowing the field to sort itself out.
"One of the things that I made clear as I discussed this job role with the president is I was not going to be an attack dog, and I don't intend to, and I wasn't asked to be one," he told reporters at the White House.
"It's not an easy time for our party. It's time for us to come together and pick ourselves up and look to the future and be the party of hope and opportunity that we've been in the past," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
When the President brought the new tone to D.C. -- better known as kumbaya!
I want our nominee to be out front, willing to go on the attack if necessary and not be laid back and basically tell the RNC to pound salt. I am not donating another dime to them -- will donate to the candidate. RNC was worthless in 2000 and now we are going back to that same worthless mentality.
Get a grip. There will be plenty of attacking going on out thayah.
Martinez job is to be the friendly face of the Republican Party for the huge mindless chattering class that determines election winners. Also, it is important to keep in mind there's lots of Latinos out thayah. The Democrat Party leadership, meanwhile, remains pasty white.
As many of you know on here, I have asked for donations for the RNC more than one time during the election cycles. I am now asking each and every one of you to close up your checkbook and save your money to donate to candidates. RNC does not deserve our support if this is how it is going to be run. Kumbaya does not win elections when you let your opposition run you down.
Please contact your National Committeeman and woman along with your State Chair and tell them to vote no on Martinez. They have the final say not the President.
He is not dynamic. You can be dynamic and nice and still get your point across. Why not Henry Bonilla if you want an Hispanic -- he is nice and much better looking IMO if looks are what sells on TV.
A sitting Senator has no business being head of RNC IMHO because he has a lot to do in the Senate to combat the Dem controlled Senate. Putting someone else in charge while Martinez has responsibility dilutes who is in charge IMO.
There are a lot of people that would have been a better choice IMHO.
Of course he won't be an attack dog. Because he's simply a token. An affirmative action pick by an administration that seems to have come around to the view Liberals are on the right track in elevating people based on skin color vs qualifications. 'Cause those darn naive Hispanic commoners are going to see Mel leading the RNC in name only, and well, Republicans will get 60% of the Hispanic vote gosh darn it! Just like they locked up that Jewish vote with Mehlman in charge, right? Because ideas and actions mean NOTHING at all compared to ones bloodline and skin color.
For the record I thought Mehlman did a good job with what he was given to work with, but the point is that this tactic by the admin disgusts me. A person's race is NOT supposed to be the main criteria for their advancement. It's a reverse discrimination that makes Washingtonians FEEL good but in reality is a mockery of the so called equal rights they claim to champion.
I supported Condi because she was capable. I don't like Powell's beliefs, but he was qualified. I supported Steele because he was certainly qualified. Ditto Estrada. I've seen NOTHING to recommend Martinez's selection. He didn't win his election so much as Jeb won it for him. Since then he has done nothing to recommend himself in the Senate, unlike other freshman such as Thune and Coleman. Everyone knows why the President has selected him, and it is more obvious by the fact they are letting it be known the daily operations aren't in his hands.
So much for looking past one's color, race or religion.
Unfortunately in these situations, the general chairman (in this case, Martinez) is supposed to be the guy who does the TV.
A piss-poor choice. A political leader who won't attack isn't a political leader but a bureaucrat.
Attack?
That word in not in the Republican playbook.
Martinez is a strong supporter of amnesty for illegals and that is why Bush appointed him. Bush is determined to obtain amnesty for illegals even if it means destroying the Republican Party.
Sheesh.
My thought exactly. People really GET witty, incisive zingers. Am I the only one on Planet Earth who remembers W's "risky scheme" rap directed at Gore during the 2000 debate? And the fact that Gore never again used that obnoxious phrase after that night? W got him, and got him good. And the people got it, and Gore KNEW they got it.
Sorry for raising my voice, you people, but sheesh, this isn't rocket science, is it??
I supported Iraq also. I feel we haven't been tough enough over there, but then I'm not military so my $0.02 is really worth just that, $0.02.
Brava, Brava, Bravissima. I am done with RNC, RSCC and RCCC forever. (Or at least until they pull their heads out of you-know-where -- which I estimate as, forever). This election cycle they spent their money in the primaries protecting mobbed-up insiders from reformist primary challengers.
Liddy Dole's dreadful RSCC quashed outsider campaigns and spent fortunes on various might-as-well-be-Dem forlorn hopes. I give you Lincoln Chafee as a prime example -- a man who immediately repaid this generosity with disloyalty, which was about as surprising to Chafee watchers as sunrise is to a ship's navigator.
The congressional committee was even worse, if such a thing is possible.
Now we have Mel Martinez, a man who would lose his own seat if he had run in this cycle, and will probably lose his seat when he does have to run.
I will still give to individual races, but the committee is untrustworthy. It's a gang of Washington insiders whose focus is on lining their pockets and helping other insiders do likewise.
I recommend to everybody that you do not give to any of the national committees. Their argument is that they know better than you how to spend the money -- funny, we've heard that argument somewhere before, haven't we?
Oh yeah, it's what Democrats say about taxes! Democrats, and those Republicans who went to DC and went native.
One last point -- your local Congressional candidate will thank you for a contribution and put it to use (I got an email from one challenger two districts over, whom the Committees did nothing to help, not one dime or word of assistance. My small contribution enabled him to run TEN radio ads. Send the same amount to the RNC and they will blow it on lunch at someplace with snails on the menu and a $450 bottle of plonk, if they don't give it to some quasi-Democrat Washington eunuch).
The national committees are for people who are content with minority status, as long as the congenial, clubbish atmosphere remains.
I am, I guess you would say, a former donor, and I have the autographed (autopen I'm sure... I'm not THAT big a donor) pictures of Reagan, George I, Reagan AND George I, Bob Dole, etc. to prove it. The National Committee is dead to me. Just my opinion, as someone who has voted (and given) Republican with few exceptions since 1976.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
If all goes well, we will have some good news. My Congressman is up for the NRCC Chair. He was a consultant long before he ran for Congress and is one of the best I have ever met. He is one of these people that knows what needs to be done and will do it. I firmly believe if they would have elected him to NRCC for the last election, we wouldn't be looking at Nancy Pelosi because in a tight race, we would have won with his leadership. He stays on message, will take it to the Dems, and we will take back the House. He is a very good fundraiser and will put the money in races they need it the most.
He had a consulting firm here that won race after race, but after he decided to run for Congress and is out of day to day activities, they do not have as good of track record.
He has forgotten more about consulting and winning races then some people will ever know. Now to sit back and see if he gets that Chairmanship because the Republian Congress could not elect someone better IMHO. If he doesn't get the post, my checkbook is shut as well. Going to take someone like my Congressman to pry it back open!
As for RNC, they can forget about any donation with this pick! If I was going to pick a Senator, it would have been Norm Coleman who should have headed NRSC instead of Dole which was the absolute worst pick ever. We went from Frist to Allen and picked up seats including Daschle's. This time we had no message out of NRSC. The lady cannot organize and is tone deaf as to what is happening throughout the Country IMHO. She put money in the wrong races IMHO.
So, in typical Bush fashion on most "hispanic" and immigration issues - he paries back and forth between immigration reform and immigration security by doing things that are just done for appearances. Yes that's a cynical view, but its accurate. (the 11th hour decision to support "the fence").
I know Martinez. I lived in Orlando when he was there, and sttill live in Florida. Was married to a cuban woman, and hired many latins over the years.
There is no such thing as a latin caucus. I am not slamming latins at all, but I do know this:
Latins are very prejudiced against other latin countries. Cubans hate mexicans, columbians hate mexicans and cubans, argentinians hate them all.
Neither Martinez, nor anyone, will unite the latins, although that is his dream, and Bush's. Mel hates the fence.
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